ANSD : Tunisian leader proposes equality on inheritances

THU 25 - 4 - 2024

Date: Aug 14, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Tunisian leader proposes equality on inheritances

TUNIS: Tunisia’s president Monday proposed giving women equal inheritance rights despite protests from thousands of people objecting to any challenge to Islamic law.

The North African Muslim country, which toppled autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, grants women more rights than other countries in the region, and since last year has allowed Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men.

But in a show how divided society remains, thousands demonstrated Saturday in front of Parliament against any changes to the inheritance rules.

The current system is based on Islamic law that typically allows men to inherit double what a woman would receive.

“We will overturn this situation” and make equality the rule, while unequal sharing of inheritance will require special dispensation, President Beji Caid Essebsi said.

Essebsi said his decision is based on Article 2 of the country’s constitution, which he said “stipulates that Tunisia is a state based on citizenship, the will of the people and the supremacy of law” not religion.

Parliament now needs to decide on a bill.

But in the face of the opposition from conservatives, he left the door open for some exceptions, saying families who wished to continue the allocation based on Islamic law would be able to do so.

Tunisia is ruled by a coalition of moderate Islamists and secular forces that have been managing its democratic transition since 2011, avoiding the upheaval seen in Egypt, Libya or Syria.

They had agreed in 2014 on a constitution granting far-reaching political rights, limiting the role of religion and holding free elections, which stands out in a region often run by autocrats.

But one of the few areas where the Islamists have resisted change is the inheritance law.

To break the standoff Essebsi, a secular politician, had in August 2017 set up a committee to draft proposals to advance women’s rights, winning praise from secular-minded women.

The commission suggested inheritance should be shared equally among male and female heirs.

A law on violence against women, passed last year, came into force in January.

After several months of consultations with civil society and political parties, the commission also proposed decriminalizing homosexuality and abolishing the death penalty.

While Tunisia has been hailed as the only “Arab spring” success story economic growth has been disappointing, however, with high unemployment driving many young Tunisians who had joined the uprising, abroad.

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