Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Ben Ali was elected to a fourth term with 95 percent of the vote, according to results published Oct. 25 by the Interior Ministry.

Ben Ali has ruled Tunisia for 17 years since taking power in a 1987 bloodless palace coup. He has consistently won landslide electoral victories tainted by charges of fraud -- the official tally from the 1999 poll gave him 99.4 percent of the vote.

Human rights groups have criticized the government for other flagrant abuses: a closed-door political system that bars dissenters, a tightly controlled press and trampling of civil liberties.

But Tunisia is upheld as a model for North Africa. The tourist-friendly country with Mediterranean beaches and vast deserts has a growing economy and actively promotes gender equality. Tunisian women enjoy rights denied in many other Arab countries, and nearly 54 percent of its university students are women.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 30, 2004
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