Tunisia's president likely to get 5th term

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia's president was expected to achieve another landslide victory in elections Sunday despite timid measures by authorities to let the nascent opposition have its say.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is running for a fifth, five-year term, after taking power in a bloodless palace coup in 1987 that authorities dub "The Change." He was last re-elected in 2004 with more than 94 percent of votes — a drop from his previous victories, which oscillated between 99.2 and 99.7 percent.

"To say there is very, very, very little suspense about his re-election is a euphemism," said Hatem, a shopkeeper in central Tunis who only gave his first name because he didn't want to appear criticizing the country's leadership.

Despite criticism by human rights groups, many Tunisian voters see continuity as a good thing in this Mediterranean tourist haven, a strong diplomatic and business ally of the U.S. and Europe and a relatively secular, moderate player in the Arab world.

Under the current constitution, it is the last time the 73-year-old Ben Ali can run for president, because the age limit is set at 75. More than 5 million voters, out of a population of 10 million, are registered to vote.

Ben Ali faces three, low-profile opponents. He is backed by virtually every labor union and his party Constitutional and Democratic Rally or RCD, which has been continuously in power since Tunisia's independence from France in 1956.

Two challengers, Mohamed Bouchiha of the PUP party and Ahmed Inoubli of the UDU, are seen as posing only cosmetic opposition.

The fourth candidate, Ahmed Brahim, of the Ettajdid, or "change," party, sent ripples through society merely by declaring during the campaign that he would run "equal to equal" against Ben Ali.

While Brahim and others complained of multiple obstacles during the low-key campaign, authorities point to steps to increase pluralism. Opposition candidates have been allowed, for instance, to hold meetings in the capital, plaster electoral posters in allotted spots, and talk for one hour on national television.

But several longtime opponents were banned from joining the race on bureaucratic grounds. A group of five Tunisian NGOs announced Friday it had calculated that the space allotted to Ben Ali and his party occupied more than 90 percent of all Tunisia's printed press during the campaign.

Voters will also choose 214 lawmakers for the lower house of parliament. The RCD is certain to get the majority. But a 2008 law seen as a gesture to the opposition should allow other parties to get about a quarter of seats. Hard-line opposition movements and Islamists are outlawed.

Even Ben Ali's opponents largely acknowledge the accomplishments he has achieved in this small country lacking any significant natural resource.

Tunisia is expecting 3-percent gross domestic product economic growth this year despite global recession; the country's poverty rate has dropped below 4 percent of the population; and international benchmarks show Tunisia is a regional model in terms of literacy, social welfare, and the important role women play in society.

But rights groups, including the London-based Amnesty International and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, deplore the general absence of any real freedom of expression or assembly, the overbearing police presence, and ongoing human rights abuses despite government pledges of reform.