Neo Destour

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The Neo Destour political party of Tunisia was founded by a group of nationalist politicians during the French protectorate. The party formed as a result of a split from the pre-existing Destour party in 1934.[1][2] Several leaders were particularly prominant during the party's early years before World War II: Habib Bourguiba, Mahmud Matari, Tahar Sfar, Bahri Guiga, and Salah Ben Youssef.[3][4]

Prior to the split, a younger group of Destour members had alarmed the party elders by appealing directly to the populace through their more radical newspaper L'Action Tunisienne. The younger group, many from the provinces, seemed more in tune with a wider spectrum of the Tunisian people, while the elders represented a more established constituency in the capital city of Tunis; yet both groups were proponents of change, either autonomy or independence. The rupture came at the Destour party congress of 1934.[5][6]

Neo Destour is usually translated as "New Constitution".

Eventually the Neo Destour led the Tunisian independence struggle after the tumultuous period during the World War II. It became the ruling party under President Habib Bourguiba, following independence from France in 1956 and the declaration of the Republic.[7] Later the Neo Destour party was renamed the Parti Socialiste Destourien (PSD), during the socialist phase of Tunisian political-economic development which commenced in 1964 under President Bourguiba.[8][9]

In 1987, under President Ben Ali, the party was again renamed, to become the Rassemblement Constitutionel Démocratique (RCD in its French acronym).[10] The RCD continues as the Tunisian ruling party into 2008 under President Ben Ali.

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Destour Party had been founded in 1920. Kenneth J. Perkins, A History of Modern Tunisia (Cambridge Univ. 2004) at 79.
  2. ^ Lisa Anderson, The State and Social Transformation in Tunisia and Libya, 1830-1980 (Princeton Univ. 1986) at 162-167, 171.
  3. ^ Perkins, A History of Modern Tunisia (Cambridge Univ. 2004) at 95-96, 98.
  4. ^ Robert Rinehart, "Historical Setting" at 42, in Tunisia. A Country Study edited by Harold D. Nelson (Washington, D.C. 1987).
  5. ^ Richard M. Brace, Morocco Algeria Tunisia (Prentice Hall 1964) at 62-63.
  6. ^ Lisa Anderson, The State and Social Transformation in Tunisia and Libya, 1830-1980 (Princeton Univ. 1986) at 163, 167.
  7. ^ Brace, Morocco Algeria Tunisia (Prentice Hall 1964) at 114-116, 121-123, 140-143.
  8. ^ Perkins, A History of Modern Tunisia (Cambridge Univ. 2004) at 146-147.
  9. ^ Jean R. Tartter, "Government and Politics" at 234-238, in Tunisia. A Country Study (Washington, D. C. 1987).
  10. ^ Perkins, A History of Modern Tunisia (Cambridge Univ. 2004) at 185.