SUMMARY
Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956. Subsequently, the Government of Tunisia was dominated by the Democratic Constitutional Assembly or Democratic Constitutional Rally (PSD/DRC) party, which fielded both Presidents of Tunisia up to 2011. PSD/DRC was known as Destourian Socialist Party between 1964 and 1988; previously it had been known as Neo Destour, Parti Socialiste Destourien and French Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique. It was led by Habib Bourguiba, who also had overarching authority over the executive, legislative and judiciary under the 1959 constitution as the first Tunisian President. Bourguiba’s educational background in France influenced his policies as he encouraged social and economic reforms whilst maintaining positive connections with other Arab states as well as Western countries. However, he increasingly suppressed political freedom; in 1963 he installed a one-party state with the PSD/DRC and installed himself as President for life in 1975. As a result, strikes and political turmoil grew in the 1970s, leading to a brief revolution attempt in 1980 by the Résistance Armée Tunisienne.
In response, Bourguiba permitted the formation of new political parties. Nonetheless, autocratic rule, age and illness led the newly elected prime minister, General Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, to enforce a non-violent, constitutional coup against Bourguiba in 1987. Ben Ali took over as President and increased political freedom somewhat, implementing a multiparty system and holding the country’s first multiparty elections in 1989. Nonetheless, laws prohibiting parties based upon ethnicity, region, language or religion prevented the main opposition party, moderate Islamist Ennahda (also known as Nasdah), from attaining legal status. Continued state repression coupled with high unemployment particularly for young adults led to mass protests erupting in late 2010, after police harassment led to the self-immolation of a fruit vendor. This event triggered the wave of popular uprisings across Middle East and North Africa region known as the Arab Spring and Jasmine Revolution.
President Ben Ali resigned and was forced to flee the country in January 2011. Elections in October 2011 and 2014 brought the Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes political parties to power respectively. Human rights activist Moncef Marzouki was president from December 2011 to December 2014, when Nidaa Tounes candidate and ex-speaker of parliament during the Ben Ali era, Beji Caid Essebsi, was elected president. In August 2016, Youssef Chahed became the seventh prime minister of Tunisia since the fall of Ben Ali.
The military force of the Government of Tunisia consisted of a relatively minor air force and navy with a larger army component. Conscripts constituted the majority of the force and served a compulsory one year of service. In 1980, the government had 29 000 troops but this grew to reach its peak of 58 500 in 1995. It subsequently decreased to 36 000 as of 2017. . Military expenditure was around 2 % of GDP apart from in 1983, when it rose to 4.6% of GDP. Under the Ministry of Interior, the national police force was largely responsible for urban areas whilst rural areas were overseen by a national guard.
During the brief revolution attempt, France mobilized its Mediterranean fleet to display support for the Tunisian government. There were also claims of French helicopters being used to evacuate injured Tunisian soldiers but there was no proof of French participation in the actual fighting.
