TUNISIA: BEN ALI, SWORN IN, HOLDING GRUDGES AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000834

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA: BEN ALI, SWORN IN, HOLDING GRUDGES AND
SETTLING SCORES

REF: A. TUNIS 828

B. TUNIS 813

C. TUNIS 803

D. TUNIS 796

E. TUNIS 791

F. TUNIS 748

Classified by Ambassador Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

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Summary
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1. (C) President Ben Ali was sworn in for a fifth five year
term on November 12. In a speech following the ceremony, Ben
Ali pledged to redouble efforts to generate employment,
economic opportunity, and development, and insisted his
government welcomed constructive criticism. His upbeat
message was offset, however, by the ominous tone in his
speech criticizing Tunisians who "fabricate lies" and "incite
foreigners against the country." These remarks, paired with
a recent and ongoing crackdown against independent
journalists, suggest the Ben Ali government is smarting and
angry about the clouds of doubt and skepticism that have
hovered over his recent re-election. MFA officials we spoke
with recently confirmed the GOT is still unhappy about the
lack of a congratulatory message from the USG, and the
government reacted furiously to French criticism of the
arrest of a Tunisian journalist. The French remarks, in
particular, prompted Ben Ali to appeal for solidarity against
"foreign interference" to the African Uion and the Arab
Maghreb Union. Meanwhile, the ew parliament was seated on
November 10, with mot of the leadership from the previous
parliamentreelected for another term. As reported ref B, a
cabinet shuffle is still considered likely, and ma be coming
soon. End summary.

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Focus on Employment and Devlopment
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2 (U) In the final act of the re-election cycle (reftels),
President Ben Ali was sworn in for a fifthfive year term on
November 12. In a speech immeiately following the ceremony,
President Ben Alioutlined an ambitious agenda for economic
reformand employment generation. He announced a new
"National Employment Fund" hat will provide stipends,
training, and job plaement assistance for university
graduates, and a program to expand Tunisia's science and
technolog sector with the aim of establishing the country a
a regional hub for research, development, and pecision
manufacturing. The President also annouced a program that
would offer credits and grants to young entrepreneurs, and
pledged he would purue aggressive reforms in Tunisia's tax
and custos regimes, moves which would boost investment and
accelerate development, he underlined.

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Ominous Notes
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3. (C) While the technocratic, development-focused emphasis
of the President's speech was vintage Ben Ali, mos
noteworthy were the ominous notes he sounded abut "Tunisians
who fabricate lies" and "incite foeigners against their
country." Although the Preident said his government
welcomes differences o opinion and constructive criticism,
"A true patiot never takes his disagreement with his country
abroad, to distort its image or seek foreign supprt. Such
behavior is ethically, politically, and legally unacceptable.
It brings the perpetrator nothing but contempt, even from
those he tries to incite against his own country," the
President warned.


4. (C) These remarks, reprising and expading upon a theme of
Ben Ali's address to the nation on the eve of electios (ref
E),clearly signled the government's anger at independent
Tunisin journalists, and civil society activists, who
riticized the government for repression and corrupion
during the election season. The GOT has not imited itself
to rhetoric in responding to critics: As reported in refs C
and F, a number of prominent independent journalists and
activists have been singled out for assault, arrest, and
harassment in the past two months.


5. (C) Most recently, in early November, civil society
activist and retired diplomat Ahmed Ounais, a close Embassy
contact and GOT critic who served as Tunisia's Ambassador to
Russia and India in the 1980s, was targeted for character
assassination in a tabloid widely believed to be controlled
by the Ministry of Interior. The Arabic paper "Kul an-Nas"

described the distinguished and urbane Ounais as a petty
criminal and a promiscuous bisexual drunk and drug abuser who
spends his time bad-mouthing Tunisia as he carouses at
parties hosted by foreign embassies. The article, penned by
the tabloid's editor in chief, warned itwould release photos
and videos of Ounais' "scandals," and could be reporting his
arrest "if he doesn't shut his mouth."

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Thin Skin to Foreign Critiques
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6. (SBU) Recent arrests and assaults, including that of
independent journalist Taoufik Ben Brik (ref C),who is
well-connected in Parisien journalistic circles, prompted
rare (separate) public critiques of Tunisia by the Mayor of
Paris Betrand Delanoe (born in Tunisia),who called for
"strict respect for human rights in Tunisia," and by the
French Foreign Ministry's spokesman on November 6, who said
France was concerned by Ben Brik's arrest. Foreign Minister
Kouchner himself spoke on French radio on November 10, also
expressing concern about Ben Brik's case.


7. (SBU) The French remarks provoked angry responses from the
Tunisian government: In response to the mayor of Paris'
criticism, the mayors of Tunis, Bizerte, and four other
Tunisian cities announced their withdrawal from the
international association of Francophone Mayors of which
Delanoe is chair. An unidentified Tunisian MFA spokesman was
quoted widely in Tunisian newspapers saying that Tunisia
"firmly rejected foreign interference" and would take no
lessons from abroad "particularly on the subject of human
rights." Government loyalist Ahmed Innoubli who ran
"against" Ben Ali as an "opposition" candidate for President
(even as he consistently praised Ben Ali),called on France
to apologize for its crimes and its greed during its eighty
year colonization of Tunisia.


8. (C) Embassy contacts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
meanwhile, recently made clear to us that the Government of
Tunisia is still smarting from the absence of a
congratulatory message from President Obama on the occasion
of Ben Ali's re-election. Echoing the Foreign Minister's
remarks when he convoked the Ambassador on October 28 (ref
D),Mourad Bel Hassan, Deputy Director of the MFA's Americas
Desk, told P/E Counselor on November 6 that the GOT could not
understand why the U.S. had failed to congratulate Ben Ali on
his re-election. "This is being interpreted as a very
negative signal," Bel Hassan lamented, adding "I really hope
we get these congratulations soon."


9. (C) Civil society contacts and activists who gathered at
the P/E Counselor's residence on November 10 believed the Ben
Ali government felt slapped in the face, both by the French
expression of concern and by the absence of elections
congratulations from President Obama, "even though" Ben Ali
had been "among the first" to congratulate President Obama on
his election and, later, on his Nobel Prize. Our contacts
felt the GOT's defensive reaction to the French remarks was
both predictable and a sign of insecurity, although the
Tunisian government found it harder, if not maddeningly
impossible, to react to the lack of U.S. congratulations,
they believed.

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Defensive, Multilaterally
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10. (SBU) A further, interesting dimension of the Tunisian
response was signaled by the President himself during his
November 12 speech. Defamation of the country and incitement
of foreigners against it, constituted attacks on Tunisia's
sovereignty, Ben Ali argued, announcing that he was referring
the matter to the chairmen of the African Union and the Arab
Maghreb Union so that they "can take the necessary stand and
protest those abuses which run counter to the principle of
respect for the sovereignty of states and non-interference in
their affairs." Tunisian media reported on November 13 that
the African Union Commission had "voiced suprise at the
recent comments by the French Foreign Ministry."


11. (SBU) A November 12 Libyan TV broadcast picked up by OSC
(GMP20091112950043),further reported that the Arab Maghreb
Union Presidency (which is chaired by Libya),as well as the
Community of Sahel and Saharan states, were "preoccupied" by
the French remarks. The Libyan report also quoted "sources"
saying "Africa no longer needs to learn lessons...
particularly from colonial powers whose history is tarnished
by human rights violations and genocide in a number of
African countries."

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New Parliament, Old Faces
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12. (C) Amidst the drama of the President's re-election,
criticism, and public grudge holding, Tunisia's new Chamber
of Deputies was seated on November 9. The body's first act
was to elect its "new" leadership, which essentially consists
of its old leadership. Septugenarian Fouad Mbazza,
constitutionally second in the line of succession, was
reelected President of the Chamber. Perhaps the most
significant change in the new parliament was the seating of
Mohammed Sakhr El-Materi, the presidential son-in-law who, at
28, is now the second youngest member of the parliament, and
already a media baron and business tycoon, widely seen as a
potential successor to Ben Ali (ref B). El-Materi took the
seat occupied by Afif Chihboub, brother of another Ben Ali
son-in-law (from Ben Ali's first marriage),once a rising
star, now seen to have been cast out of the inner circle.


13. (C) The average age of the new parliament membership is

55. Women make up 25 percent of the membership, though they
hold only 11 percent of the committee chairmanships. The
ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) holds 161 of the
214 seats (the total seats in the body has expanded from 189
to 214) and the "opposition" holds 53 seats, although only
two of these 53 seats are held by a genuinely independent
opposition party - Tajdid. The remaining "opposition"
parties are characterized by their loyalty and obedience to
the Ben Ali government.

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Cabinet Shuffle
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14. (C) As discussed ref B, a cabinet shuffle is still
anticipated (though not guaranteed). Now that the other
"formalities" of the new term have been completed, the
shuffle could be imminent.
GRAY