Mohamed Bouchiha – Wikipedia

Mohamed Bouchiha (Arab: Mohamed Bushiha ), born the June 21, 1948 In Tunis, is a Tunisian politician.

Former journalist, this figure in the Popular Unity Party joined his party even before his legalization in 1981. Elected deputy, he was finally brought to the head of his party in 2000, succeeding Mohamed Belhaj Amor, the candidate of Left in the 1999 presidential election. Bouchiha presented himself to the supreme magistracy in 2004 and 2009.

Bouchiha follows primary education at the school of the Kheireddine Palace in Tunis, from 1955 to 1961, then secondary to the Lycée Carnot in Tunis, until 1969, where he obtained a baccalaureate in letters and philosophy. Until 1973, he carried out his higher education in the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Tunis, where he obtained a master’s degree in history and geography with a complementary certificate in sociology ^{[ first ]} .

Bouchiha takes a brief passage by Tunisia’s press From 1972 to 1974 ^{[ first ]} , before directing the National Interurban Transport Company (SNTRI) from 1981 to 1985. In 1980, he founded the Association of employees of the Ministry of Education for Sport, Culture and Work, of which he is a member to in 1981.

He is married and father of two children ^{[ first ]} as well as grandfather ^{[ 2 ]} . He is also a cousin of Leïla Ben Ali, first lady of Tunisia and wife of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, stationed from 1987 to 2011 ^{[ 3 ]} .

Political career [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In 1979, he engaged in the Popular Unity Party (PUP), of which he was the deputy secretary general from 1981 to January 2000. During the legislative elections of 1981, he was the head of the party list in Zaghouan then , during the following legislative elections, he was his head of the list in the constituency of Tunis I. From 1988 to 2000, he also assumed the Directorate of the Writer of the Weekly Al Wahda , the party organ ^{[ first ]} .

Elected deputy during the 1999 legislative elections ^{[ 4 ]} , at the same time he became president of the Parliamentary Immunity Commission. From 2000 to 2004, it belongs to the office of the Council of the Choura of the Union of the Arab Maghreb. From 2001 to 2004, he was also a member of the Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly ^{[ first ]} . The January 16, 2000 , he became secretary general of the PUP, a position where, in the absence of any opposition, he was confirmed for five years during the seventh party congress in October 2007 ^{[ 5 ]} ); He also takes the post of director of the publication of Al Wahda ^{[ first ]} .

He participates in numerous conferences and meetings of the movements and political parties in Tunisia and in the world ^{[ first ]} . His political career has enabled him to meet a certain number of politicians of various nationalities which he presents as his “friends”: they come from China, Cuba, Chile, the Arab world, especially from the Palestinian Authority ( Yasser Arafat, Nayef Hawatmeh and Ahmad Saadat), etc. George W. Bush is also among these ^{[ 2 ]} . On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the coming to power of Ben Ali, which occurred November 7, 1987 , it is decorated with the large cord of the order of November 7th ^{[ 6 ]} .

He resigns the 8 mars 2011 ^{[ 7 ]} . Less than two months after the Revolution that hunts President Ben Ali from power. A travel ban was issued against him in September 2013 following an investigation into the financing of his party at the time of President Ben Ali ^{[ 8 ]} .

Presidential candidates [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

It appeared in the 2004 presidential election and won 3.78% of the vote; This is equivalent to 166,629 votes at national level and 1,357 in voting centers abroad, a total of 167,986 votes in his favor ^{[ 9 ]} . Ben Ali being re -elected with 94.48% of the votes, Bouchiha affirms that his “The presidential score indicates that we have an important place in the political landscape which allowed us to break the taboo of the 99% recorded during the previous presidential elections” . Journalist Hamiche Amar reports that he was delighted to be the first opposition candidate to cross the 1% bar since the first pluralist presidential in the history of Tunisia in 1999 ^{[ ten ]} ; He also said ” satisfied ” of his score which reported a “clear neutrality” of the administration ^{[ 11 ]} . For Monique Mas, Bouchiha serves as “Viewer” In Ben Ali ^{[ twelfth ]} While, for Sihem Bensedrine, it is a “Alibi candidate, appointed by power” , and “False candidate, who is just there to justify pluralism in the eyes of the outside world” ^{[ 13 ]} .

In view of the 2009 presidential election, he announced his candidacy in an interview published by the daily The weather the first ^is September 2008 , thus becoming the first leader of the Tunisian opposition authorized to present himself to do so ^{[ 14 ]} . The Central Council of the Party, brought together from November 28 to 30 at the Hotel Le Diplomat de Tunis, to celebrate the 25 ^{It is} anniversary of party recognition, formalizes this candidacy ^{[ 15 ] , [ 16 ]} . On August 28, he officially applied to the Constitutional Council. He himself considers his candidacy as a “Confirmation of the positive political climate in Tunisia” ^{[ 17 ]} . He says he realizes “Perfectly that presenting himself to these elections to which President Ben Ali will present himself with the achievements and the achievements he has to his credit, has […] only an educational scope” . He nevertheless refuses to consider his candidacy as « décor » and “Allegiance” , thinking that such “Relatives […] have no meaning” ^{[ 18 ]} . He actually recognizes that his « candidature [East] rather political ” that electoral ^{[ 19 ]} . At the end of the ballot, he finally arrived in second position with 5.01% of the votes cast ^{[ 20 ]} .

Professional career [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

On the sidelines of this political career, in 1995 he became CEO of the Compagnie des Transports by Pipeline in the Sahara (Trapsa), a position he held until 1999. In January of that year, he was appointed CEO of artificial cements Tunisians (CAT) ^{[ 21 ]} , position he has not occupied since 2000 ^{[ first ]} .

Bouchiha considers himself a «Socialist Modern» , in the sense that he combines “The constraints of the moment and the expectations and aspirations of a society turned to the future concerned with progress, modernity and independence” ^{[ 22 ]} . During a conference organized the May 29, 2009 by the Progress Forum of the Popular Unity Party and the theme “The issues of contemporary religious discourse” , Bouchiha claims that, according to him, “Islam like all religions advocates freedom, equality, respect for the other” , and reject “Any incitement to hatred and discord” ^{[ 23 ]} . Compared to the Tunisian national movement and the duty of memory, Bouchiha indicates that in his eyes “Events of April 9, 1938 constitute irrefutable proof of the great sacrifices made by the Tunisian people for the accession to independence and the consecration of national sovereignty” ^{[ 24 ]} .

Internationally, Bouchiha thinks that the United States “is responsible for not finding solutions to the Palestinian problem and carry out the invasion of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasion and are responsible for this Financial crisis which will have social repercussions on the social level not only in America but also in the world. ” He also calls on American leaders to modify “radically their hegemonic and ignorant policy of the rights of peoples for fair development” ^{[ 25 ]} .