PDF Dosyası - Ankara Üniversitesi Kitaplar Veritabanı

Despite this attitude, the State has not abandoned the religious reality.On the contrary, it has tried to get hold of it. Religious institutionshave been put under the authority of a state administration (the directionof the cult vvithin the responsibility of the Prime minister) and there vvasonly a symbolic function that had been preserved, namely that of theMufti of the Republic.These similarities shovv that the pirinciple of secularism has rathermarked the Tunisian leader actions during the establishment of the TunisianState. This influence or at least any reference, even covert to the Kemalism,seems to have knovvn a renevval in the late 1980s because of thestrengthening of the fundamentalists' tendency and the issues relative tothe relationships betvveen the State and the religion. Indeed, claims for athorough secularism on the Turkish model have been requested to safeguardboth the State and the religion from mutual overlapping. These requestscontradicted those that favoured a strengthening of the religion andespecially the vvithdravval of some reforms undertaken in 1956 as the prohibitionof polygamy, the legalisation of adoption, vvomen emancipationconsidered by the fundamentalist as contrary to the religion.On 20 March 1988, The President Zine Ben Ali has taken a decisiveaction by stating that the code of the personal status vvould neither bequestioned nor abandoned. Thereafter various measures have been takento consolidate vvomen's rights namely concerning the granting of the Tunisianvvoman nationality to her children and equality betvveen the fatherand the mother in the management of the family matters (education, traveland financial issues) 7 .This secular and modern attitude of the society can be revealed bythe situation of religion outside the political fields.Thus, as concerns political life, the lavv of 28 April 1989 forbids theconstitution of any political party on a denominational, ethnic, racial orregional basis. Similarly political parties have to act to consolidate the nationalrights i.e. the republican regime, the sovereignty of the people,principles of the personal status code, the equality betvveen men andvvomen and the protection of children. Since a constitutional amendmentof 27 October 1997, the article 8 of the constitution stipulates: "the politicalparties should contribute to the training of citizens to organise theirparticipation to the political life. They have to be organised on a democraticbackground. Political parties have to respect the sovereignty of thepeople, the values of the Republic and ali principles relative to the personalstatus.7. Cf: International conference on Islamic Laws and women in the modern world, Giantforum, Islamabad, 22-23 December 1996.471