WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE RCD?: RULING PARTY WRAPS UP

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000879

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG (WILLIAMS/NARDI/STEWART); DRL (JOHNSTONE/KLARMAN)
LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KPAO TS
SUBJECT: WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE RCD?: RULING PARTY WRAPS UP
CONGRESS

REF: A. TUNIS 859

B. TUNIS 847

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) The ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD)
held its congress, which takes place once every five years,
from July 30 - August 2. The most notable development came
on July 30, when President Ben Ali announced he would seek
re-election for a fifth five year term in 2009. The RCD also
voted on general resolutions meant to guide the party, and
changed the composition of the RCD's Central Committee (the
party's governing body). End Summary.

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Getting to Know the RCD
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2. (C) The ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD)
holds a congress once every five years, in the year preceding
presidential elections. 2,715 delegates met July 30 - August
2 to decide on the party platform and elect new (or old)
leadership. The President of the party is Tunisian President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Other senior RCD figures include
Secretary General Hedi M'henni and the six Deputy Secretary
Generals in charge of Structures, Youth Education and
Culture, Organizations and Associations, Women, Foreign
Relations, and Future Programs. The RCD counts 2.2 million
members among its 8,803 local chapters. The party is
governed by the Central Committee, which meets every six
years or at the President's request. In July, the RCD added
93 members to the Central Committee for a total of 343. As
part of the RCD's youth outreach initiative, 63 of those
added were under the age of 30, among which was the
President's son-in-law (Ref B).

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Technically Speaking...
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3. (C) Events during the RCD party congress, whose theme
was "Challenge," started out a bit out of order.
Traditionally, after the President opens the Congress,
elections of senior party leadership, including a president,
take place, after which the President declares his intention
to seek re-election. This year, Ben Ali announced he would
run for re-election, "in response to your (the people's)
appeal," during his opening speech on July 30 (Ref A).
Though his candidacy was a forgone conclusion, some observers
opined that his announcement was premature, since it
technically came before Ben Ali was re-elected president of
the party. At the Congress, the President's announcement was
met with jubilation and chants of "God is unique. Nobody is
like Ben Ali!" Ben Ali stated that his candidacy respected
the rule of law, and seemed to suggest he would not seek
additional terms after 2009 by saying, "We consider that the
people's choice is the rule for alternation, and that the
Constitution is the decisive arbiter for all." (Note: The
Constitution was amended in 2002, raising the age limit for
presidential contenders to 75 and eliminating presidential
term limits. Barring further amendments, Ben Ali is eligible
to run in 2009, but not beyond.)

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The Powers That Be
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4. (C) The other major announcement to come out of the RCD
Congress was the composition of the RCD's Central Committee
(the party's governing body). The Central Committee is made
up of 350 members, 174 of which are elected; the rest are
appointed to the Committee by the President. The RCD
publishes its list of Central Committee members in rank
order. Among those who are present on this year's Central
Committee list, but were not part of the 2003-2008 Committee
are Abdelwaheb Ben Ayed (Chairman of the Poulina Group
holding company) who is number 87 on the list, Minister of
Defense Kamel Morjane who is number 105, and Sakr El Matri
(the President's son-in-law),who is 188. Overall, 77
percent of the previous Central Committee members retained
their positions. Among those previously on the list, but who
are not on this year is Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb
Union and former Tunisian Ambassador to the United States
Habib Ben Yahia.


5. (C) Most RCD notables retained their approximate ranking
from 2003, though a few jumped significantly either up or
down. RCD First Vice-President Hamed Karoui retains his
place at number one on the new RCD Central Committee list;
Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi also kept his
former spot at number 6. Minister of Foreign Affairs
Abdelwaheb Abdallah jumped from number 32 on the list in 2003
to number 23 in 2008. The head of the Americas group in the
Chamber of Deputies Tijani Haddad also moved significantly
from number 63 to 49, along with Senior Political Advisor to
the President Mohamed Ghariani who moved from 48 to 35.
Current RCD Secretary General Hedi M'henni jumped from number
16 to 12, President of the governmental Economic and Social
Council Sadok Chaabane went from number 18 to 13, and
Minister of Public Health Mondher Zenaidi went from 20 to 15.
President Ben Ali's Chief of Staff Ahmed Iyadh Ouederni
moved up a few notches (21 to 16),along with Minister of
Justice Bechir Tekkari (23 to 17),President of the
governmental Higher Commission for Human Rights and
Fundamental Liberties Moncer Rouissi (23 to 18),Governor of
the Central Bank Taoufik Baccar (26 to 20),and Minster of
the Interior Rafik Bel Haj Kacem (24 to 21). The President
of the Chamber of Advisors Abdallah Kallel moved slightly
from the number 9 spot to number 8, as did Special Advisor to
the President Abdelaziz Ben Dhia, (who went from 11 to 10)
and Minister of Transportation Abderrahim Zouari who moved up
from 12 to 11.

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RCD Party Platform
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6. (C) In addition to electing new RCD leadership, members
of the Congress also approved a number of resolutions that
were before several RCD committees. Though no specific
proposals were put forth, the resolutions are meant to direct
the actions of the RCD over the next few years. For example,
the Commission of Political Training decided that the RCD
should devote more resources to training its members. Among
the more notable resolutions was the Commission of Culture
and Information's decision to encourage press outlets to
devote more time to the concerns of young people. The
Commission of Economic Affairs and Regional Durable
Development also approved a motion to promote tourism
(especially local handicrafts),promote the use of renewable
energy sources, and to encourage investment by improving the
investment climate.

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Comment
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7. (C) The lack of substance in the RCD's "platform" is
telling: against the backdrop of rising cost of staple goods
and unemployment, which have generated protests in the south,
the RCD's committees mainly put forth vague proposals and
propaganda. Various civil society groups have been calling
for concrete government action to address the concerns that
gave rise to those protests, but none were forthcoming from
the RCD Congress. To the RCD, however, Ben Ali's ideas were,
"pragmatic and ambitious and introduced new concepts such as
citizenship, good governance, and democracy."


8. (C) What was not announced during the Congress was the
identity of the new RCD Secretary General. This may have
been because Ben Ali is planning a government reshuffle, and
was not prepared to announce the full extent of changes. (A
reshuffle has been widely rumored in Tunis, although it is
not a certainty.) Also left unanswered was the question of
who will be the party's sole vice-president (Ref A). Both
Karoui and Ghannouchi, who until now were both serving as RCD
Vice-Presidents, are prominently featured on the Central
Committee list. The composition of the Central Committee
list overall bodes well for the Embassy, as most the
Embassy's regular contacts in the RCD moved up either
slightly or significantly. The Embassy will continue to
reinforce these contacts as influencing the RCD is tantamount
to influencing the GOT. End Comment.
GODEC