Bourguiba's Tunisia-II
TUTSCH, HANS E.
President's regime contains both positive and negative elements of Arab states' 'awakened, triumphant nationalism' BOURGUIBA'S TUNISIA-II By Hans E. Tutsch Last week, Hans E. Tutsch, a leading...
...Ten papers are published: two daily and four weekly papers in Arabic, three daily and one weekly in French, and one Italian weekly...
...These rulers (whether they be kings or presidents) and many of their ministers are in the habit of giving instructions orally, and they expect just as much weight to be attached to verbal as to written instructions...
...There is always an element of despotism in personal rule...
...The Tunisian Government's conflicting attitude toward freedom is apparent in the country's newspapers...
...In every Arab country a single man governs, according to ancient tradition, but not according to the letter of the law...
...In any case, he would regard a refusal to carry out his orders as a personal insult...
...It is difficult for the idea of a loyal opposition to make any headway...
...Furthermore, he has the devotion of the powerful trade-union association...
...As with any personal regime, the inevitable question is: What will happen after Bourguiba has left the stage...
...His deputy in the leadership of the state and the party is Bahi Ladgham, who is considered an efficient administrator...
...Even where there is a loyal opposition, as in Turkey, it is not recognized as such by the government...
...The motivating force is not the search for freedom but a longing for liberation which flows into a concrete goal only where it is a matter of doing away with foreign rule...
...Like many another Arab leader of the opposition, he has thrown himself into the arms of the nearest imperialist...
...It will remain effective so long as the movement for the improvement of the people's standard of living preserves its momentum...
...But it is quite obvious that all the power of making decisions is concentrated in one man, Habib Bour-guiba...
...When this occurs there is a sudden transport of passion in which the regime is overthrown, the rulers murdered and other leaders put at the head of the tribe or state...
...The birth of a nation and the reformation of a state are connected with various unpleasant happenings involving not only the neighboring countries but the people who are in revolt...
...This rarely brings any fundamental change in the character of the government...
...Just as the Tunisian Salah ben Yussef escaped to Cairo, the Mauritanian Hor-ina Ould Bababa has gone to Morocco, which would like to annex his country, and the Iraqi Kurd Mullah Mustufa el Barzani took refuge for many years in the Soviet Union...
...The most fitting description of the regime would probably be an "enlightened dictatorship...
...And who would dare to question even lesser officials about their instructions, or confront them with conflicting orders...
...Their nomadic spirit often triumphs over the law...
...But there are no obvious successors in his party...
...President's regime contains both positive and negative elements of Arab states' 'awakened, triumphant nationalism' BOURGUIBA'S TUNISIA-II By Hans E. Tutsch Last week, Hans E. Tutsch, a leading authority on the Middle East and a writer for the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, discussed Habib Bour-guiba's charismatic personality and his gift for organization...
...Perhaps the nationalist movement would be quite incapable of doing this anyway, since it has embraced the peoples before they have combined into a nation and constituted themselves in a state...
...True, almost all the Arab states have Western-style constitutions, but there is no absolute subordination of officialdom to the law—a condition that is impossible to achieve under a purely personal system of government...
...Arab nationalism often has a negative force which enables it to shake off a colonial power but is incapable of building a liberal democracy...
...On the other hand, Mongi Slim, an old fighter of the nationalist movement who occupies the most important position of Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, enjoys considerable prestige...
...But whereas the Moroccan papers contain almost no news from their own country and neighboring states, in Tunisia praise for Bourguiba is mingled with a good deal of news...
...Bourguiba's rule is authoritarian but it is not totalitarian...
...President Habib Bourguiba's regime in Tunisia contains most of the positive and some of the negative elements of awakened, triumphant nationalism and the urge toward political independence and social reforms...
...But it also restricts freedom...
...Thus, government orders often infringe constitutional or legal rules and regulations without the ruler responsible being aware of the fact...
...Bourguiba can call on the loyal support of the young army, which he is building up himself...
...TUNIS THE NATIONALIST revolutions in Asia and Africa cannot be regarded as simply a new edition of the French Revolution, leading to the victory of the liberal, democratic constitutional stale...
...Doubtless this is more apparent to the Western observer than to the Arabs...
...After three-and-a-half years of Bourguiba's rule this is still intact, but tremendous obstacles still have to be overcome in the effort to continue to raise the people's standard of living...
...They attempt to mark themselves off from their neighbors in very militant fashion, and put their own personality into great relief...
...Such sudden changes occur not so much where freedom is restricted as where there is a violation of the principle of equality which has such deep roots in Islam, an equality that has not the slightest connection with the political rights of a modern democracy...
...Of course, the gulf between the pays legal and the pays reel varies from country to country...
...The power machine of the state stretches over the whole country like a closely meshed net...
...But the predominant feeling is that neither freedom of opinion nor any of the other freedoms is absolutely secure, that they have been granted by the head of state personally and may be revoked at any time...
...This fundamental characteristic of the Arabs is more apparent in the Middle East than in the Arab West, more obvious among the feudal lords on the edge of the desert than among the urban middle class that is more interested in stability...
...The citizen is allowed a measure of freedom that is not less than that granted in the other Arab countries, with the exception of the Lebanon...
...They may endeavor to keep within the framework of the law, but it is difficult to keep a check on purely oral instructions...
...Here he analyzes the political dynamics of Arab rulers and applies this analysis to the Tunisian Government and to Bourguiba's role as President...
...Bourguiba's principal enemy, Salah ben Yussef, and his followers, are given no quarter at all...
...Only a few of the ministers have any followers or prestige of their own...
...In the present political circumstances, it seems unlikely that the Neo-Destour will be deprived of power...
...In any case, rigid rules and regulations accord ill with their unstable and excitable temperament...
...At worst, an ancient anti-monarchist tendency breaks through as a counterweight to the despotism inherent in purely personal government...
...There is even an illegal opposition—this role was entrusted to the Communists—but it is kept under an extremely vigilant eye: Good care is taken that they do not become too ambitious...
...As for the extent and reliability of the news, the Tunisian papers compare quite favorably with those of Morocco, the United Arab Republic, Jordan and Iraq...
...Admittedly, most Tunisians would probably reject this term and insist on the word "democracy...
...He performs the functions of both head of state and head of government, and he is also the leader of the Neo-Destour movement—which has become almost a united front party...
...they do not want to be hemmed in by irksome restrictions...
...None of these papers criticizes Bourguiba...
...The Government describes this fear as unjustified, but it is nevertheless widespread...
...The constantly repeated cry for national liberation, for liberation from the colonialists, imperialists and plutocrats, and all the other slanderous terms of nationalist demonology, stifles the desire for individual freedom and justifies the continuance of authoritarian government...
...The head of state, who was recently elected with 91.5 per cent of the votes, is not contemplating retirement and at 56 he is in full possession of his powers...
...In the Arab countries "democracy" and "freedom" have quite a different meaning from that in Western Europe or the United States...
Vol. 43 • March 1960 • No. 10
