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The Unired Stmes cnd North Africa
subject to certain restrictions, and, finally, can take exceptional
measures if the safety and independence of the Republic are
threatened.
Compared to that, the prerogatives of the Assembly are
somewhat restricted. Its members are elected at the same time
es the President for five years, and all deputies represent the
country as a whole instead of a particular district. The Assem-
bly can pass bills over presidential veto by a two-thirds major-
ity on second reading, but its most telling power is that of
fixing the final figures of the budget. In practice the legislature
has been overshadowed during the seven years of Tunisian
independence by the execuoive, but that is not too unusual in
the first stages of a new country which is tempted to dramatize
the national will in one personality, especially when the mag-
netism of that individual is such that it is impossible to imagine
the country without him.
Grouped around the presidency is the executive office, begin-
ning with the cabinet which has been staffed with little change
by members of the neo-Destour. The Secretary of State to the
Presidency functions as a vice-president and is also responsible
for national defense. The forces under his command include a
small army of about 20,00o men, which has enhanced its repu-
tation in the Congo, a naval contingent for coastal defense, a
parachutist elite unit, a few offcer pilots, and the gendarmerie.
Military service is compulsory, but the rate of rejection is high
and many trainees are enrolled in a civil corps which has done
excellent work in the economic development program.
On the regional level, the country is divided into thirteen
governorates, with each governor assisted by an elected ad-
visory council. These have limited powers but provide a useful
testing ground of local opinion. It is in the competence of its
regional administration that Tunisia has particularly distin-
guished itself. On the whole the governors have been able and
conscientious younger Destourians, and a neat balance between
centralization and decentralizAtion has been kept. The
corps
governor
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