PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF ADVISORS DEFENDS THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000110

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2020
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR TS
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF ADVISORS DEFENDS THE
GOT AND SEEKS U.S. SUPPORT

REF: TUNIS 15

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

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Summary
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1. (C) Abdallah Kallel, the President of the Council of
Advisors, gave the Ambassador a practiced defense of the
GOT's goals and development strategy. He argued for
continued USG support for Tunisia based on shared political
values and the shared goal of eliminating terrorism. He
underlined the continued danger of Islamists crossing the
border from Algeria and defended President Ben Ali's "gradual
approach" to building a democratic culture in Tunisia. He
stressed the concern that if the GOT opened the way to full
democracy too quickly it could be destabilizing. Replying to
Kallel's pitch for more assistance, the Ambassador noted USG
military assistance, and briefed Kallel on the trade mission
arriving next week. Kallel also pointed out that the members
of the Chamber of Advisors and expressed potential interest
in a visit to their counterparts in the United States Senate.
End summary.

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A Broad Defense of the GOT
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2. (C) Abdallah Kallel, the President of the Tunisia's upper
chamber of parliament, the Council of Advisors, presented a
broad defense of the GOT's goals and strategy for the
country's development in a February 10 meeting with the
Ambassador. He said President Ben Ali is moving forward
slowly and carefully to build a solid democracy in Tunisia.
His verbose message boiled down to the following points:

-- The GOT fought a stiff battle against the Islamist
"Ennahda" movement in 1991, and remains concerned about
Islamist influences in a population that is 99 percent
Muslim. If the GOT is not vigilant, Islamists forces
operating in Algeria could cross the border and create
problems in Tunisia.

-- The GOT is working to counter the appeal of the Islamists
by developing the country socially and economically. The
goal is a secular, democratic country that is private-sector
oriented, but this process will take time, and if the leaders
move too quickly they risk a reversal.

-- Tunisia has been growing at an average rate of five
percent a year for the last ten years, but suffered a setback
in 2009 because of the economic crisis. However, this
average growth rate is not creating enough jobs, especially
for university graduates. Tunisia continues to lose its best
young people to better jobs in Europe. He said there are a
million Tunisians abroad; approximately 600,000 of them in
France. (Note: the population of Tunisia is approximately
10.4 million. End note.). The GOT is working to encourage
foreign investment, and to solicit foreign assistance in
targeted areas to counter the attraction of Europe.

-- The USG should support the GOT because our two countries
share the goals of fighting terrorism and promoting democracy
and capitalism.

-- Kallel suggested that Tunisia was a better political
investment than Portugal and Greece because Tunisia had
proven itself to be more fiscally responsible during the
financial crisis, and Tunisia provided a platform for Africa
while Portugal looked out onto "the empty" Atlantic. He also
said the United States has to take the lead in reforming the
international financial system. He pushed several times for
increased USG assistance, particularly for the military and
education.


3. (C) The Ambassador noted our continued military
assistance, pointed out anticipated U.S. budget restraints,
and briefed Kallel on the arrival of a U.S. trade mission the
following week.

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Structure of the Chamber of Advisors
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4. (SBU) Kallel described the structure and function of the
Council of Advisors. The Council is divided among three
groups; one-third senior dignitaries, (mainly former
ministers, politicians, and other prominent citizens),who
are appointed directly by President Ben Ali; one-third
elected indirectly by local level RCD officials; and
one-third societal sector representatives. (Note: These
last seats are distributed equally among the agricultural
unions; the employers union; and the UGTT, the national trade
union. The trade unionists have refused to accept their
allotted seats because they object to the method for
selecting representatives. End note.)


5. (SBU) The Council has the right to suggest amendments to
legislation submitted by the government to the Parliament and
to summon ministers to review proposed legislation.
Revealing a point of tension between the two chambers of
Parliament, Kallel said his chamber should be able to suggest
amendments to proposed legislation before they are considered
by the lower house, but instead both chambers receive
proposed legislation from the government the exact same day.

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The Opposition is "Welcome"
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6. (C) Kallel made a point early in the discussion of
asserting that the GOT provides space for the opposition to
work within the system, as part of the process of building a
full democracy. Discussing the make-up of the parliament,
however, he admitted that while 25 percent of the seats in
the lower chamber are reserved for the opposition, in the
Council of Advisors only 8 of 112 seats are held by
opposition figures. Later he said everyone who is successful
has enemies. He specifically named Najib Chebbi, the founder
of the Progressive Democratic Party and one of the most
prominent independent opposition figures, saying "there are
figures who criticize the government but have no ideas of
their own." Such opponents are working against the interests
of their country, Kallel remarked, using GOT boilerplate
rhetoric.

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Relations with other Senates
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7. (SBU) Apparently angling for an invitation to Washington,
Kallel mentioned that the Chamber of Advisors had sent
representatives to visit the Senates of many other countries
but had not yet visited the United States.

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Biographic Information
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8. (C) During his conversation Kallel mentioned that he was
sent as a Special Envoy to the United States after the first
Gulf War, charged with smoothing the way after the
"misunderstanding" created when Tunisia did not support the
United States during the war to liberate Kuwait. Kallel
served as the Minister of Interior in 1991, Minster of State
and Special Advisor to the President in 1995, Minister of
State for National Defense in 1996, Minister of Justice in
1997, Minister of Interior again in 1999, and Minister
Advisor to the President 2001. In January, 2004 he was named
Chairman of the Economic and Social Council, and in October,
2005 he became President of the Chamber of Advisors.


9. (C) Kallel mentioned three children: his eldest daughter
has been living and working in Paris for the last ten years
after studying at the Ecole Polytechnique in France. His son
studied information technology in Toulouse and then returned
to Tunisia and started two businesses, a call center, and a
GPS locating service. A second daughter is teaching medicine
in Tunisia after studying in France.


10. (C) Kallel told the Ambassador that he shared the
Ambassador's interest in running and exercise. He explained
a detailed regime consisting of a 5-8 kilometer run followed
by another hour of gymnastics and weight-lifting three days a
week, another three days of lighter exercise - walking rather
than running, and Sunday off. He said he pays special
attention to his diet eating a traditional diet with a
maximum of fruits and vegetables and a minimum of cooked
meats.

GRAY