Tunisia

On January 14, 2011, President Ben Ali, who held the seat of power for many years, resigned. Street demonstrations by the people spread, and the change in government that ousted the president was dubbed the “Jasmine Revolution” after the national flower of Tunisia. Subsequently, the democratization movement spread to Egypt and other neighboring countries. For the critical election after the revolution, JICA dispatched experts, and held seminars focused on the role of the media during the election, political funding and election systems. In the October election of the constituent assembly, the chief representative of the JICA Tunisia Office and other personnel participated in the election observation mission of the Government of Japan. The monitoring activities included voting and ballot opening procedures, adherence to regulations, and the transparency, fairness and efficiency of work, and JICA provided assistance for the implementation of a fair, transparent election.