State of Democracy in Tunisia - Essay Example

Memo about Tunisia to Secretary of Memo about Tunisia to Secretary of John Kerry, Secretary of State From: XXX, Country Desk Officer for Tunisia Date: 30 June, 2015. Subject: Recommendations for US Foreign Policies towards Tunisia State of Democracy in Tunisia The nation of Tunisia is an exception in the Arabic region for completing a democratic electoral process peacefully four years after the collapse of its ruler, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali (Guardian News and Media Limited, 2014). The death of a young fruit seller gave rise to a popular uprising in the country which led to the overthrow of dictatorship in Tunisia. The nation has been successful in electing its President, Beji Caid Essebsi. This state is an outcome of the earlier reforms that were undertaken in the administrative history of the country. This includes the reforms of the 19th century which established a constitutional rule and the notion of separation between the religion and the state. Also, the rule of Habib Bourguiba after the independence of the nation from 1959 to 1987 has left significant impact on the public education, female liberation and social reform (Guardian News and Media Limited, 2014). The new constitution of the nation is the result of the widespread debate about principal political parties and it has been adopted in the National Constituent Assembly in January 2014. Though it got the support of both Islamic and secularist parties, only its implementation will solve the debate about the role of the religion in public life and the role of the state in controlling religious traditions (Arieff & Humud, 2015). Recommendations for U.S. Foreign Policies Regarding Tunisia’s Democracy The newly formed democratic government of Tunisia deserves financial assistance from countries which supports democracy. The United States must remain committed towards supporting Tunisia’s struggles to stimulate republic. This is because Tunisia’s approach towards democracy aims at strengthening the civil society, empowering the young generation and the women of the nation, introducing economic reforms, taking the steps towards increasing the participation of the people in the government and reinforcing security within the country. The U.S. must provide support to the Tunisian government to encourage good governance, transparency in the fiscal system and in enhancing management capacity of the civil society organizations. The grants provided to the state through the “Middle East Partnership Initiative” (MEPI) has helped the nation to expand the economic opportunities for the women and the youth and also encouraged the people to take part in the political system of the country (The White House, 2015). Thus the U.S. must continue to provide additional funds under this program. The U.S has also helped the government by providing technical assistance to implement the freedom of information legislation in 2011. Thus, it should continue to provide technical assistance necessary to encourage equality in the country. The United States must support the newly formed democracy as the country can act as a gateway to the North African region and also is a “moment of opportunity” for United States as Tunisia has immense potential to grow as an economy (The Heritage Foundation, 2015). Economic Development in Tunisia The GDP per capita of the country in 2014 was USD 4466.5 which has increased by 1.8% from 2013. It has been observed from the data that growth rate of GDP per capita has been significantly low from 2009 and has been negative in 2011, the year of the uprising (Open Data for Africa, 2015). The economy of Tunisia rebounded in the year 2012 with a positive growth rate of GDP per capita but it was short-lived. The rising social and political stability accompanied by the difficult external environment in the period 2013-2014 has led to the slowdown in the economic development of the nation. The GDP of the country contracted by 1.9% in the year 2011 but recovered from the situation with a growth rate of 3.6% in 2012.However, the economic growth rate declined to 2.6% in 2013 (The World Bank Group, 2015a). The unemployment situation in the country is same as the conditions prevailing in the pre-revolution period. The unemployment rate was 13% in the period before the revolution. It decreased from 16.7% in 2011 to 15.3% in 2013 which is much above the rate in the period before the revolution (The World Bank Group, 2015a). It is found that the Gini Coefficient of Tunisia has decreased from 37.7 in 2005 to 35.8 in 2010 indicating a fall in the income inequality of the nation (The World Bank Group, 2015b). Recommendations for U.S. Foreign Policies Regarding Tunisia’s Economic Development The current statistic of the economic indicators point out to the fact that the nation needs to undertake operational reforms to stimulate growth and job creation in the economy. Thus the nation must take steps such as liberalizing the labor laws, the restructuring the banking sector of the country and loosening of currency regulations. It must also introduce reforms in the investment regulations to attract foreign investment and enhance competition in the private sector. Thus the government of the United States must engage in greater trade and investment with Tunisia through the U.S.-Tunisia “Trade and Investment Framework Agreement” (TIFA), to inspire greater economic freedom in the nation (The White House, 2015). The U.S. must also take part in the advancement of the private sector through the “Tunisian-American Enterprise Fund” (The White House, 2015). The United States must also engage with the universities and the business associations to assist the country in creating jobs across the nations. The U.S. has provided loans to the nation earlier which has helped Tunisia to get access to affordable financing and the international capital markets. So, the U.S. must continue to provide loan guarantee to the country in the existing reform program. The department of U.S. must focus on the implementation of the plan of forming a new Joint Economic Council (JEC) with the aim to support economic reform priorities and enhance private sector partnerships (The White House, 2015). The U.S. should continue to promote advancement of the private sector in the nation in order by investing in the small and medium enterprise through the Tunisian-American Enterprise Fund (TAEF) (The White House, 2015). This in turn will contribute to the inclusive economic growth and employment. Thus the United States must remain committed in encouraging Tunisia to strengthen its business climate, create job opportunities and promote economic freedom. Human Rights in Tunisia The new Tunisian Government has reinforced the human rights protections with the adoption of the new constitution in 2014. The government has established a truth commission into past rights abuses and has formulated new laws to fight torture. The new constitution also offers the protection of women rights and compels the nation to work hard towards achieving gender equality in the elected assemblies (Human Rights Watch, 2015a). Recommendations for U.S. Foreign Policies Regarding Tunisia’s Human Rights The U.S. government regulates the human rights practices in Tunisia and has encouraged the country to improve its human rights records. In order to expand educational opportunities and thus decrease the income inequality present in the country, the United States should significantly increase the number of Thomas Jefferson scholarships (The White House, 2015). The U.S. has also plans to establish three new university linkages between the two nations in the field of business development and technological innovation. Peace in Tunisia The new constitution has failed to maintain peace in the nation as its newly formulated laws are not successful in protecting human rights. The government requires to restructure the existing security laws, introduce reforms in the public institutions and execute constitutional guarantees to reduce the deficiencies in the existing laws (Human Rights Watch, 2015). Recommendations for U.S. Foreign Policies Regarding Tunisia’s Peace The United States is a major partner of Tunisia in the counterterrorism efforts. The U.S. should remain committed towards the security assistance to counter the regional and internal threats and terrorism. The U.S. should also provide technical assistance to develop the capability of the military of Tunisia in the ground of mobility, surveillance and border security (The Carter Center, 2014). References Arieff. A & Humud, C.E. (2015). Political Transition in Tunisia. Retrieved from https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS21666.pdf Guardian News and Media Limited. (2014). The Guardian view on Tunisia’s transition: a success story. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/26/guardian-view-tunisia-transition-success-story Human Rights Watch. (2015). Tunisia: Drop or Amend Security Bill. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/13/tunisia-drop-or-amend-security-bill Human Rights Watch. (2015a). Tunisia. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/tunisia Open Data for Africa. (2015). Tunisia GDP per Capita. Retrieved from http://tunisia.opendataforafrica.org/qmaotte/tunisia-gdp-per-capita The Carter Center. (2014). Tunisia Country Profile. Retrieved from https://www.cartercenter.org/peace/human_rights/defenders/countries/tunisia.html The Heritage Foundation. (2015). U.S. Should Support Tunisia’s Democratic Progress with Concrete Action. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/02/us-should-support-tunisia-s-democratic-progress-with-concrete-action The White House. (2015). Fact Sheet: Enduring U.S.-Tunisian Relations. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/05/21/fact-sheet-enduring-us-tunisian-relations The World Bank Group. (2015a). Tunisia Overview. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/overview#1 The World Bank Group. (2015b). GINI index. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?page=2 Read More