Tunisian president rejects gender equality in inheritance

TUNIS – To the disappointment of women’s rights activists in Tunisia, President Kais Saied on Thursday voiced clear opposition to equality between genders in inheritance.

Speaking during a ceremony to mark National Women’s Day, Saied said that any talk about equality in inheritance is “not innocent” as it is aimed at stirring a “false debate.”

“The Koranic text is clear and allows for no interpretation,” he said.

The Tunisian president said that “the principle of inheritance in Islam is not based on formal equality but rather on justice and equity.”

He indicated that “legal texts governing the lives of citizens usually create controversy as to their conformity with the precepts of Islam,” citing Article 1 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the religion of the state is Islam, even though countries, according to him, cannot be classified on the basis of religion.

He said historical context helps explain the disparity, noting that the notion of the state’s religion being Islam dates back to the Ottoman Empire.

“Do States have a religion? Will the United Nations member states go to Heaven or Hell? ” Saied asked rhetorically.

He added that religion is that of peoples’. The state, however, must work to achieve its goals.

“The state is different from the nation [the peoples] and states have no religion!” he said.

The mission of the state is to achieve the ends of Islam by being fair to all citizens, he explained, adding that “Tunisians need to benefit from their rights on the basis of justice.”

However, he stressed he is committed to working towards socio-economic equality between Tunisian women and men.

“The best would be to ensure equality between women and men in terms of economic and social rights,” he said.

The president also referred to the circumstances that led to the promulgation of Tunisia’s Code of Personal Status (CSP) by the late President Habib Bourguiba. He called on Tunisians “to be fair to all those who have strived to defend women and their rights, such as Taher Haddad, Cheikh Taher Snoussi, Cheikh Othman Belkhouja in Tunisia, and other defenders of women rights in neighbouring Arab countries.”

At the end of the ceremony, Saied honoured several Tunisian women who are distinguished in the fields of sports, health, administration and culture.

Saied’s opposition to gender equality in inheritance is not new, echoing the same views he expressed while on the campaign trail last year.

Since 2018, debate over gender equality has grown in Tunisia. The issue took centre stage during Caid Essebsi’s presidency after the late president reacted to recommendations put forward by the Commission for Individual Freedoms and Equality (COLIBE), which he established in August 2017, and voiced support for gender equality in inheritance.

Caid Essebsi’s initiative won him praise from women’s rights activists but lost him support from an important segment of the centrist camp that retains conservative and traditionalist social views.

By opposing this initiative, Saied could be attempting to avoid the same fate of Caid Essebsi, who drew fierce condemnation from conservatives and Islamists and eventually found himself politically isolated.

Though a political novice, Saied has so far shown a clear understanding of Tunisia’s socio-cultural makeup, which despite more than seven decades of attempted modernisation has remained largely conservative and traditionalist.

Rejecting gender equality in inheritance will likely help Saied maintain the popular support that propelled him to power in 2019.

Saied’s position could also shelter him from campaigns of denigration and criticism by conservatives, particularly the Islamist Ennahda Movement and its allies, who previously led protests against the initiative of late Essebsi and the COLIBE to expand their popular base at the expense of women’s rights and activists’ yearning for progressive reforms.

Almost nine months after being elected president with about 73% of votes in the run-off round, Saied remains one of the country’s most popular political figures.

According to an opinion poll carried out by Sigma Conseil during the first week of this month, an estimated 65.1% of prospective voters support Saied, more than any other politician, up from 51% in July and 54% in June.