The Free Patriotic Union ( ar, الاتحاد الوطني الحرّ, translit=el-Itiḥād el-Waṭanī el-Ḥurr; french: Union patriotique libre), known by its French acronym UPL, is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

History and profile

Established in May 2011 as ''Union patriotique libérale'' and renamed to ''Union patriotique libre'' in June 2011, the party was founded and has been led by the British-Tunisian petroleum entrepreneur

Slim Riahi Slim Riahi ( ar, سليم الرياحي; born 1972) is a Tunisian businessman and politician. He was the founder and leader of the Free Patriotic Union (UPL). Biography Slim Riahi was born on 13 July 1972 in Bizerte, Tunisia. In 1980, his famil ...

who had been raised in his family's

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n exile and had returned from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

right after the

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 ...

in January 2011. The party proposes

free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

economy and a

modern society Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the "Age of Reason ...

and rejects Islamism. The UPL has mainly been noted for its expensive and lavish electoral campaign. It has offered bus trips to party rallies to potential voters. As opposed to most other parties that rely on the voluntary commitment of their members, the Free Patriotic Union can afford to pay its candidates and campaigners. This has earned the party the accusation of "buying" candidates and supporters. Party leader's Riahi decision to buy 20% of the Dar Assabah media group raised suspicions of mixing business interests with political activity. At the same time, the party came into conflict with Tunisia's

Independent High Authority for Elections The Independent High Authority for Elections ( ar, الهيئة العليا المستقلة للانتخابات ', french: Instance supérieure indépendante pour les élections or ISIE ) is a government agency in charge of organizing and super ...

(ISIE) because it continued its advertising campaign from 12 to 30 September, ignoring ISIE's ban of canvassing during this period. In the parliamentary election in October 2011, the party received only 1.26% of the votes. However, in the Siliana district, the party managed to receive 6.3% of the votes and Noureddine Mrabti won the party's only seat for the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. Together with twelve defectors from the Aridha Chaabia list, Mrabti founded the ''Liberty and democracy'' parliamentary group, which was later reorganized into the ''Democratic transition'' parliamentary group. However, only Hanène Sassi remained a permanent member of the party. On 7 March 2013, it was announced that to create a new "centrist party of socialist-liberal orientation", seven minor parties decided to join forces with the UPL: the Third Alternative Party, the Modern Left Party, the Citizenship Movement, the Tunisian Liberal Party, the Social-Democratic Alternative, the Citizenship and Justice Party, and the Path of Will Party. For the parliamentary election in October 2014, the party submitted lists to all 33 electoral districts. With 4.02% of the votes it managed to win 16 of the 217 seats in the Assembly of the Representatives, making it the third largest parliamentary group right after the two dominant parties

Nidaa Tounes Nidaa Tounes ( ar, حركة نداء تونس ', french: Appel de la Tunisie; usually translated as "Call of Tunisia", "Call for Tunisia", or "Tunisia's Call") is a big tent secularist political party in Tunisia. After being founded in 2012, ...

and

Ennahda The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia. Fou ...

Resignations

In April 2016, UPL president Slim Riahi accused former UPL secretary general and current Minister of Youth and Sport Mehdi Ben Dhia of being to lax towards the

Tunisian Football Federation The Tunisian Football Federation ( ar, الجامعة التونسية لكرة القدم, french: Fédération Tunisienne de Football, FTF) is the governing body of football in Tunisia. It was established in 1957. It became a member in the FIFA ...

, after the Riahi's

Club Africain Club Africain ( ar, النادي الإفريقي) is a Tunisian football club based in Tunis that competes in the Tunisian Championship. It fields several sports teams, including football, handball, basketball, swimming and volleyball. The foot ...

lost to Etoile Sportive du Sahel. Ben Dhia left the UPL after Riahi unsuccessfully called on Prime Minister Essid to replace him as minister. Later in May, the UPL lost three more deputies to

. The party subsequently announced it would "suspend its activities" in the

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. Following a party meeting on 22 May in

Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...

, Hatem El Euchi was appointed the party's new secretary general. Jamel Tlili who, obviously in absence, was appointed the new deputy secretary general, resigned within 24 hours from the party, claiming he had not even been made aware of his appointment or nomination. Two days later, executive director Samir Maghraoui also resigned from the UPL criticizing Riahi for "considering the party a one-man project". In June, resigned UPL member Tlili accused Riahi and the UPL ministers Deriouche and El Euchi of "systemic corruption". Because of the corruption allegations, MP Taher Foudhil announced his resignation from the UPL later in August.

Election results

References

External links

* (in Arabic) {{Tunisian political parties 2011 establishments in Tunisia 2018 disestablishments in Tunisia 2019 establishments in Tunisia Liberal parties in Tunisia Political parties disestablished in 2018 Political parties established in 2011 Political parties established in 2019 Political parties in Tunisia Populist parties Secularism in Tunisia