No mention of a party called the Destour Democratic Party could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response. The following information may, however, be of some use. Several references mentioned the Neo-Destour Party, which later became the Constitutional Democratic Rally (Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique, RCD), the party currently in power in Tunisia (Africa News 24 Feb. 2003; ATF n.d.; Europa 2003 2003; Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002; Political Parties of the World 2002; Tunisia n.d.; Yahoo! Encyclopedia 2001). This is the oldest party (Africa News 24 Feb. 2003) in power in Tunisia and in the world (Courrier international 7 Nov. 2002).

Destour was the name of a political party in Tunisia founded in 1920 that called for a Tunisian constitution (dastour in Arabic) (Yahoo! Encyclopedia 2001). Following internal conflicts, the Destour Party splintered into two groups in 1934: the Old-Destour, which promoted [translation] "returning to Islamic traditions," and the Neo-Destour, a self-proclaimed democratic party led by Habib Bourguiba, which advocated modernizing Tunisia (Yahoo! Encyclopedia 2001). The Neo-Destour was renamed the Destourian (Constitutional) Socialist Party (Parti socialiste destourien, PSD) in 1964 (ibid.; Europa 2003 2003; Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002; Political Parties of the World 2002). One source indicated that the party became the Destourian Socialist Party in 1956 (Africa News 24 Feb. 2003). Then, in 1988, the party changed its name to the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) (ATF n.d.; Europa 2003 2003; MEDEA Mar. 2001; ibid. Dec. 1999; Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002; Political Parties of the World 2002; Tunisia n.d.) to reflect a greater political (Political Parties of the World 2002) and democratic openness (Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002).

The current leader of the RCD is Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, President of the Republic of Tunisia (Europa 2003 2003; People in Power 1 Mar. 2004; Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002; Political Parties of the World 2002). The party won 99 per cent of the votes in the 1999 federal elections (ibid.; People in Power 1 Mar. 2004). It has a Political Bureau made up of nine members and a Central Committee of 200 members (Europa 2003 2003).

The RCD is considered a moderate left-wing (Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002) republican party (Europa 2003 2003) and is part of the Socialist International (Political Parties of the World 2002). According to the Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002, the RCD is very powerful and derives its strength "in large part from affiliated syndicates representing labor, agriculture, artisans and merchants, students, women and youth" (2002). Furthermore, "[p]arty members have filled most major government positions since independence" (Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002 2002).

One source mentioned that the RCD has been criticized for its treatment of the opposition parties (Political Parties of the World 2002), but this information could not be corroborated by other sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Africa News. 24 February 2003. "Tunisia: 8th Political Party Enters the Political Scene in Tunisia." (NEXIS)

Association des Tunisiens en France (ATF). n.d. "Politique." http://www.atf.ifrance.com/atf/info.htm [Accessed 25 May 2004]

Courrier international [Paris]. No. 627. 7 Nov. 2002. "Tunisie : Élection présidentielle - Candidats, vos papiers!" (Courrier international)

The Europa World Year Book 2003. 2003. 43rd ed. vol. 1. London: Europa Publications Ltd.

European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation (MEDEA), Brussels. March 2001. "Ben Ali, Zine El Abedine." http://www.medea.be/?page=2&lang=fr&doc=399 [Accessed 25 May 2004]

_____. December 1999. "RCD (Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique) (Tunisie)." http://www.medea.be/?page=2&lang=fr&doc=175 [Accessed 26 May 2004]

People in Power. 1 March 2004. No.101. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge International Reference on Current Affairs (CIRCA).

Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002. 2002. Edited by Arthur S. Banks, Thomas C. Muller and William R. Overstreet. Binghampton, NY: CSA Publications.

Political Parties of the World. 2002. 5th edition. Edited by Alan J. Day. London: John Harper Publishing.

Tunisia. n.d. "Government." http://www.tunisiaonline.com/government/government1.html [Accessed 25 May 2004]

Yahoo! Encyclopedia. 2001. "Destour." http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/d/d0003215_p0.html [Accessed 25 May 2004]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), La Presse (Tunisia), Le Temps, Tunisia Daily, United States Department of State, World News Connections (WNC), Zeitouna.