Independens North Africa
has wide latitude to make decisions on the spot 4omething
which has been capital in Ihandling the large publie workn n
employment program-but he cunnot get too much out of
hand because the smallness of Tunisia, and its facile communi-
cations allow for frequent consultation with the capital and the
shadow of the central governinent is kept at just about opti-
mum intensity.
All the governments of the now Maghrib states could legiti
mately be considcred reform governments, for cach has made
significant changes in the legnl, judicial, and social structure of
its countries, but in Tunisia reform has been perhaps the most
notable among many accomplishments. Many of the details arO
discussed later under the hending of social change, but men-
tion should be made herc that Tunisia has made a sweeping
renovation of the legal basis of society which far exceeds that
of other North African or Arnb country. Whecn the Per-
any
sonal Status Code went into effect in 1957 Tunisia became the
only Arab stare in which polygany was unconditionally abol-
ished and women granted full equality with men in all do-
mains. Marriage and divorce were reformed and regulated by
new civil laws, while suminary repudintion of the wife by the
husband was terminated. Religious tribunals for Muslims and
Rabbinical courts for Jews were abolishcd, placing everyone
under the same secular jurisdiction. These reforms werc com-
pleted by a Civil Status Law which made registration of births
and deaths obligatory for the first time and insisted on a specific
identity for each individual to replace the anarchic anonymity
which prevails in many Arab countrics where people do not
have surnames. All things considered, the reform of justice,
the secularization of the law, and the removal of inequality
between citizens were probably the most important steps taken
by the Tunisian state along the path to becoming an integrated,
modern nation.
In Tunisia it is common to hear it said that the government is
party, and vice versa. “We are all Destourians" is a standard
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