Tunisia, with long hope for the democratization of North Africa and the Middle East, continues to fall in the world ranking of democracy. A trend that the authoritarian turn of the policy of President Kais Saied should confirm in the next editions of the Democracy Index published each year by the think tank The Economist Unit.
After spending 7 years in the category of “imperfect democracies” of the Democracy Index (link in English), Tunisia relapsed in 2021 into that of “hybrid regimes”. Category that the authors of the survey qualify as countries having “elements of democracy, but which suffer from more pronounced weaknesses” which make them ineligible for a higher category. The 2022 vintage confirms this drop. Worse, the fall is accelerating. Tunisia ranks 85th out of 167 (-10 places) and is one of the 10 worst performances of the year, alongside Russia, Burkina Faso, and Iraq.
“Last year, we downgraded Tunisia (…) amid a marked deterioration in the country’s performance following a constitutional coup led by President Kais Saied in July 2021,” explains The Economist Unit, in its press release. A measure that “marked the end of Tunisia’s transition to democracy”. “Presidential control over the levers of power in Tunisia was further consolidated in 2022, leading to a decline in civil liberties, electoral processes, and pluralism in Tunisia,” add the authors.
Indeed, Mr. Saied ordered the dissolution of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, revoked Parliament, and took control of the High Authority for Elections. The holding of the constitutional referendum – marked by a very low turnout – formalized Tunisia’s transition from a parliamentary democracy to a model centered on presidential supremacy. Many voices of opposition have also been prosecuted and arrested.
Europe is in front, the Middle East behind
Despite this decline, Tunisia remains the best Arab student and the second in the MENA region, behind Israel. The latter ranked 29th in the world will also drop sharply in 2022 (-7 places). On the third regional market, Morocco is the only other “hybrid regime” with an unchanged score and position compared to 2021.
All the other countries in the MENA region are “authoritarian regimes”. The region is also at the back of the pack on all the indicators measured. Several of these countries also occupy the bottom of the world ranking: Libya (151st ), Iran (154th ), Yemen (155th ), and even Syria (163rd ). The MENA region is even the only one to record a notable deterioration in its average.
Conversely, Northern Europe dominates the top of the ranking: Norway (1st), Iceland (3rd), Sweden (4th), Finland (5th), and Denmark (6th). The only intruder, New Zealand retains its 2nd place in this European group shot. Then follow a majority of countries of the Old Continent (Switzerland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Germany), but also Taiwan (10th ) , Uruguay (11th ), and Canada (12th ) . France comes in 22nd place, thus regaining its status of “plenary democracy”.
