Progressive Democratic Party (Tunisia)

The Progressive Democratic Party was founded under the name of Progressive Socialist Rally in 1983. It gained legal recognition on 12 September 1988{{cite web|title=Tunisia - Opposition Parties|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/tunisia/politics-opposition.htm|work=Global Security|accessdate=11 October 2014}} and was renamed Progressive Democratic Party in 2001. Under the rule of Ben Ali it was a legal opposition party, but it was subjected to political repression.{{Citation|author=Angelique Chrisafis|title=Tunisian elections: the key parties|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 October 2011 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/19/tunisia-elections-the-key-parties |accessdate=22 October 2011}} After the Tunisian revolution it was one of the major left-leaning secular political forces.{{Citation|author=Celeste Hicks|title=Tunisia election: Loving and loathing Islamists |work=BBC News|date=21 October 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15377242|accessdate=22 October 2011}} It was led by Ahmed Najib Chebbi and Maya Jribi. On 9 April 2012, it merged into the Republican Party.

The Progressive Democratic Party had a newspaper, Al-Mawqif.{{cite web|title=Tunisia's Media Landscape|url=http://www.mediasupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ims-tunisia-assessment-2002.pdf|work=International Media Support|accessdate=11 October 2014|format=Report|date=June 2002}}

In its beginnings, the Progressive Socialist Rally (now PDP) gathered a broad range of currents from Marxists and pro-democracy activists to progressive Muslims.{{Citation|author=Emily Parker|title=Maya Jribi|publisher=tunisia-live.net|date=6 September 2011|url=http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/09/06/maya-jribi-2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309174051/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/09/06/maya-jribi-2/|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 March 2012|accessdate=21 October 2011}} During the Ben Ali rule, Najib Chebbi and the PDP were harassed by the police for years, and verbally attacked by state-run media.{{Citation |title=Who are Tunisia's main opposition figures? |publisher=Reuters |date=17 January 2011 |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/tunisiaNews/idAFLDE70G1MA20110117 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017190635/http://af.reuters.com/article/tunisiaNews/idAFLDE70G1MA20110117 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 October 2014 |accessdate=22 October 2011}} After unsuccessfully participating in elections from 1989 to 1999, the party decided to boycott the elections of 2004 and 2009.{{Citation|author=Eymen Gamha|title=Progressive Democratic Party|publisher=tunisia-live.net|date=9 October 2011|url=http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/10/09/parti-democratique-progressiste-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%91%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%91%D9%85%D9%8A/|accessdate=21 October 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022151826/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/10/09/parti-democratique-progressiste-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%91%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%91%D9%85%D9%8A/|archivedate=22 October 2011}} Therefore, it was unrepresented in the Tunisian parliament. After the Ben Ali administration announced to force the party to move their headquarters from Tunis, its leaders Najib Chebbi and Maya Jribi engaged in a 20-day hunger strike, which earned the party attention and prompted the administration to revoke their decision.

Following the 2010–2011 Tunisian protests, shootings outside PDP's headquarters were reported on 16 January 2011.{{cite news |title=Tunisia situation remains tense |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011116141359683604.html |work=Al Jazeera English |date=16 January 2011 |accessdate=18 January 2011}} The next day, on 17 January, party leader Najib Chebbi, was named Regional Development Minister in the interim government. Ahead of the Constituent Assembly election, the PDP evolved into a main exponent of the centre-left secular camp and rival of the Islamist Ennahda Movement. In the run-up to the elections, the Progressive Democrats have received quite an amount of financial support which enabled the party for a lavish campaign. Critics claim that an important part of the funding came from businesspeople close to the old Ben Ali power elite.{{cite news |title=Financing Questions Shadow Tunisian Vote, First of Arab Spring |author=David D. Kirkpatrick |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/world/africa/tunisia-election-faces-financing-questions.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2|newspaper=The New York Times |date=22 October 2011 |accessdate=23 October 2011}}

In the election for a constituent assembly, the PDP won 3.9% of the popular vote and 16 of 217 seats in the National Constituent Assembly, putting it at the fifth place. As the party had categorically ruled out any collaboration with the victorious Islamist Ennahda Movement, the Progressive Democrats went into opposition and belong to the outspoken critics of the governing coalition of the Islamists with the secular CPR and Ettakatol parties. After the electoral defeat, the PDP launched talks with other secularist and liberal parties to form a "big party of the centre".{{Cite news |url=http://www.businessnews.com.tn/Premier-meeting-du-%C2%AB-Grand-Parti-du-Centre-%C2%BB-%C5%95-Tunis,533,29191,3 |title=Premier meeting du " Grand Parti du Centre " à Tunis |newspaper=Business News |date=7 February 2012}} The merger was realised on the PDP's fifth congress on 9 April 2012.{{Cite book |last=Cavatorta |first=Francesco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uYLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT102 |title=Routledge Handbook on Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa |last2=Storm |first2=Lise |last3=Resta |first3=Valeria |date=2020-12-29 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-29330-2 |page=102 |language=en}} The new party is called the Republican Party and comprises, in addition to the PDP, the Afek Tounes party, several extra-parliamentary parties and independents.{{Citation |first=Hichem |last=Benzarti |title=Un congrès unificateur des forces démocratiques centristes |newspaper=La Presse de Tunisie |date=10 April 2012 |url=http://www.lapresse.tn/10042012/48054/un-congres-unificateur-des-forces-democratiques-centristes.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412184735/http://www.lapresse.tn/10042012/48054/un-congres-unificateur-des-forces-democratiques-centristes.html |archivedate=12 April 2012 }}

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• [http://www.pdpinfo.org PDP site]

{{Tunisian political parties}}

Category:1983 establishments in Tunisia

Category:2012 disestablishments in Tunisia

Category:Defunct liberal political parties

Category:Defunct political parties in Tunisia

Category:Formerly banned political parties in Tunisia

Category:Liberal parties in Tunisia

Category:Political parties disestablished in 2012

Category:Political parties established in 1983

Category:Secularism in Tunisia