People attend the celebration of the National Women's Day in avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, Tunisia on August 13, 2018. Photo by Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto/Sipa USA/PA images. All rights reserved. Over the past few months, Tunisia has witnessed several victories for civil society, with the government making moves to promote gender equality in particular. Yet contradictory actions by the president’s office and parliament, which established a National Registry for Institutions on July 27, capture the Tunisian state’s appearance of being both open to and cautious about accommodating civil society during the democratic transition.
Since his election in 2014, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, in line with statements regarding increasing women’s rights in marriage and inheritance, has established committees tasked with increasing personal freedoms. For instance, in response to civil society organization (CSO) demands for increased freedoms, in August 2017 he established the Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee (COLIBE), tasked with drafting a report proposing relevant legislative reforms. Among the recommendations of the report, presented to President Essebsi on June 8, 2018, were to decriminalize sodomy, guarantee equal inheritance rights for women and men, and abolish the death penalty. The state had previously used the morality laws in particular as an excuse to arrest dissidents. Parliament will likely debate the recommendations once back in session this fall. In response to COLIBE’s findings, more than 90 organizations and CSOs applauded the recommendations and formed a pact to confirm their commitment to a civilian and democratic Tunisia.
In response to COLIBE’s report and intense lobbying by secular women’s associations, on August 13, Essebsi also reiterated his commitment to women’s inheritance equality. The president plans to present parliament with a draft law to abolish legal restrictions that currently prevent all women from gaining full access to their inheritance, in accordance with Islamic family law. However, even with these restrictions removed, women’s actual inheritance would be left to individual families’ discretion. It is possible that Essebsi will follow through on his promise since it does not directly challenge the family’s autonomy over inheritance. Though this law has not yet been drafted, on August 26, Ennahda announced that it will vote against the potential inheritance bill because it contradicts Islam and therefore the constitution. The debates around inheritance will likely continue and be among the defining issues of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.
