french: La souveraineté du peuple, la dignité du citoyen, la légitimité de l'état. , predecessor = , headquarters = 41 Hedi Chaker,
1000

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, newspaper = ''Tunisie Avenir'' , student_wing = , youth_wing = , membership_year = , membership = , ideology =

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a si ...

Factions:

Left-wing nationalism Left-wing nationalism or leftist nationalism, also known as social nationalism, is a form of nationalism based upon national self-determination, popular sovereignty, national self-interest, and left-wing political positions such as social equal ...

Social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

Democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

Social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

Liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

, position =

Centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

, national = , international = , seats=0 , colors =

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

and red , symbol = , website = The Congress for the Republic ( ar, المؤتمر من أجل الجمهورية, Al-Mu’tamar min ajl al-Jumhūriyya; french: Congrès pour la République), also referred to as El Mottamar or by its French acronym CPR, is a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

political party in Tunisia. It was created in 2001, but legalised only after the 2011

Tunisian revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...

. Its most prominent founder and long-term leader was Moncef Marzouki. He had been the party's honorary president since he became interim President of Tunisia in December 2011.

History

Foundation

The creation of the CPR was declared on 25 July 2001 by 31 people including the physician, medicine professor and human rights activist Moncef Marzouki as President, Naziha Réjiba (Oum Ziad) as Secretary-general, Abderraouf Ayadi as Vice-President, Samir Ben Amor as Treasurer, and Mohamed Chakroun as Honorary President. The CPR declared that it was aimed to install a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

an form of government "for the first time"in Tunisia, including

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

freedom of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline mem ...

, and the holding of "free, honest"

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

s, "guaranteed by national and international observers able to genuinely check all levels of the electoral process". The CPR's declaration also called for a new constitution, strict separation of the different branches of government,

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

guarantees,

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

, and a constitutional court for protecting individual and collective rights. The CPR called for renegotiating Tunisian commitments toward the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, for Tunisia to support the rights of national self-determination, in particular for the

Palestinian people Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. It was ideologically heterogeneous, including

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, Arab nationalists, far-leftists, as well as

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

. The unifying point was their firm opposition to the regime of President

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...

2001–2010

In 2002, during the Ben Ali presidency, the CPR was banned. Its leader Marzouki went into exile in Paris. However, the party continued a ''de facto'' existence, being run from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

until 2011.

2011

Following the ouster of President Ben Ali in January 2011 as a result of the

2010–2011 Tunisian protests The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...

, CPR President Moncef Marzouki announced that he would return to Tunisia and be a candidate in the next general election. He returned to Tunisia on 18 January 2011. The Congress for the Republic's

electoral symbol An electoral symbol is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's election commission for use in election ballots. Usage Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on ballot ...

is a red pair of glasses, alluding to Moncef Marzouki's characteristic glasses. Young supporters of the CPR are known to wear red glasses as an accessory to show their support for Marzouki. In the election for a constituent assembly, the CPR won 8.7% of the popular vote and 29 of 217 seats in the National Constituent Assembly, making it the second-strongest party. Subsequently, the party contracted a three-party coalition with the winning Islamist Ennahda Movement and

Ettakatol The Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties ( ar, التكتل الديمقراطي من أجل العمل والحريات, ' ; french: link=no, Forum démocratique pour le travail et les libertés), also referred to as Ettakatol or by its Fre ...

, called the "

Troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...

". Accordingly, the Constituent Assembly elected CPR leader Moncef Marzouki interim

President of Tunisia The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Tunisian Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية التونسية), is the head of state of Tunisia. Tunisia is a presidential republic, whereby the president is the head of state a ...

on 12 December 2011. Thereupon Marzouki appointed an Ennahda-led

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

with participation of the CPR.

Abderraouf Ayadi Abderraouf Ayadi ( aeb, عبد الرؤوف العيادي; born 12 February 1950 in Manouba, Tunisia) is a Tunisian human rights activist, politician and lawyer. After the Tunisian Revolution in 2011, he was elected as a member of the Constitue ...

succeeded Marzouki as secretary-general of the CPR.

2012

In May 2012, disaffected members of the CPR left the party and formed the ''Independent Democratic Congress''. The splinter party that was later renamed

Wafa Movement The Wafa Movement ( ar, حركة وفاء), sometimes referred to as the Independent Democratic Congress, is a political party in Tunisia. The party was founded in 2012 by a number of constituents who broke away from the Congress for the Republ ...

, is headed by

, a former secretary general of the CPR. He was joined by 12 members of the Constituent Assembly.

Party officials

*Moncef Marzouki, CPR Honorary President and President of the Republic of Tunisia Secretary General *Imed Daimi, MP (Medenine), former Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki and former MP (Representing diaspora in France - Northern district) at the National Constituent Assembly Spokesperson (also members of political bureau) : *Ikbal Msadaa, Spokesperson, Former MP (Arab World, Africa and the rest of the world) at the National Constituent Assembly *Haythem Belgacem, Spokesperson, Former MP (Ben Arous) and President of CPR parliament group at the National Constituent Assembly Members of political bureau : *Noura Ben Hassen, Former MP (Representing diaspora in France - Southern district) at the National Constituent Assembly *Selim Ben Hmidane, Former minister of State domains and former MP (Medenine) at the National Constituent Assembly *Ibrahim Ben Said, MP (Kebili) *Amor Chetoui, Former MP (Kebili) at the National Constituent Assembly and President of the constitutional committee in charge of drafting the power distribution rules in the new Tunisian constitution. *Sabri Dekhil, MP (Gabes) *Mabrouk Hrizi, MP (Kasserine), Former MP (Kasserine) at the National Constituent Assembly and second vice rapporteur of the constitution. *Tarek Kahlaoui, Former Director of the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies *Adnan Mansar, Former Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki *Mabrouka M'Barek, Former MP (Representing diaspora in the Americas and rest of Europe) at the National Constituent Assembly *Bechir Nefzi, Former MP (Representing diaspora in France - Northern district) at the National Constituent Assembly *Khaled Traoui President of CPR National Council *Habib Bouajila Treasurer: Samir Ben Amor

Election results

References

External links

Official website
{{Tunisian political parties 2001 establishments in Tunisia Democratic socialist parties in Africa Formerly banned political parties in Tunisia Formerly banned socialist parties Liberal parties in Tunisia Political parties established in 2001 Political parties in Tunisia Secularism in Tunisia Social democratic parties in Tunisia Social liberal parties