puties (Majlis
al-Nuwaab)

_#_Judicial branch: Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI
(since 7 November 1987);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Hamed KAROUI (since 26 September
1989)

_#_Political parties and leaders:
Constitutional Democratic Rally Party (RCD), President BEN ALI (official
ruling party);
Movement of Democratic Socialists (MDS), Ahmed Mestiri;
five other political parties are legal, including the Communist Party

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 20

_#_Elections:

President--last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994);
results--Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI was reelected without opposition;

Chamber of Deputies--last held 2 April 1989
(next to be held April 1994);
results--RCD 80.7%, independents/Islamists 13.7%, MDS 3.2%, other 2.4%;
seats--(141 total) RCD 141

_#_Communists: a small number of nominal Communists, mostly students

_#_Member of: ABEDA, ACCT, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CCC, ECA, FAO,
G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM,
OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Habib LAZREG;
Chancery at 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005;
telephone (202) 862-1850;

US--Ambassador Robert H. PELLETREAU, Jr.; Embassy at
144 Avenue de la Liberte, 1002 Tunis-Belvedere; telephone [216] (1)
782-566

_#_Flag: red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent
nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; the crescent and star are
traditional symbols of Islam

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The economy depends primarily on petroleum, phosphates,
tourism, and exports of light manufactures for continued growth.
Following two years of drought-induced economic decline, the economy
made a strong recovery in 1990 as a result of a bountiful harvest,
continued export growth, and higher domestic investment. Continued
high inflation and unemployment have eroded popular support for the
government, however, and forced Tunis to slow the pace of economic
reform. Nonetheless, the government appears committed to implementing
its IMF-supported structural adjustment program and to servicing
its foreign debt.

_#_GDP: $10 billion, per capita $1,235; real growth rate 6.5% (1990
est.)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7