Destour

The Destour is a Political party Tunisia N, founded in 1920, and of which the goal is to release Tunisia of the French protectorate. The term of Destour is probably of Turkish origin because there is no trace of this word neither in the Arab language of the pre-Islamic period, neither in the Coran or the Hadith S, nor still in the Arab literature of the period preceding the Othoman era where this word starts to be employed in Egypt.

Known first of all like the Tunisian Left , heir to the movement of the Young Tunisians, it is born the 1920. A great number of notable, of which doctors and lawyers which have well-established, certain members of the family beylicale and families middle-class but also of the known Journaliste S and many Tunisian personalities of the time there adherent.

They claim then a constitution for Tunisia which would restore the rights which the country enjoyed before protectorate. The June 4th, the party takes officially the name of Tunisian constitutional Liberal party ( Hizb Al-Hor Al-Destouri ) or more simply Destour . The sheik Abdelaziz Thâalbi, which is the instigator, assumes of it the presidency starting from the May 21st 1921. The party then publishes a first proclamation to claim emancipation of the Tunisian people of the bonds of slavery .

The party adopts a program in 8 points:

introduction of a constitution based on the principle of the Separation of the capacities
end of the administrative supervision of the France
safeguard of individual freedoms
the creation of a Tunisian Parliament elected
introduction of an executive power responsible before the Parliament
independence for the judicial power
the development of teaching to all the degrees
recognition of the Arab language like official language

The June 8th 1920, a delegation of forty members of the party, led by a Ouléma, goes to the palate Marsa to present the 8 items in the program to Naceur Bey. Advised by his son, the prince Moncef Bey, Naceur Bey promise to act in their direction. The June 20th, on instructions of Paul Deschanel, President of the French Republic, the members of this delegation is challenged by the police force and is shown incentive with hatred between the races.

A few months before, Thâalbi publishes a proclamation, Tunisia martyrdom. Its claims , in which the claims are expressed in the name of the very whole Tunisian community which is presented as being victim of the French Colonisation. Drawn to 2000 specimens, he is addressed to the representatives of the French government, to the members of Parliament and to the persons in charge of the French political parties, like with the principal press agencies in France and abroad. In France, the book has a great repercussion, in particular in the mediums of left: it arouses thus the interest of Humanity (body of the French Socialist party). In Tunisia, in spite of its prohibition by the authorities of protectorate, this work knows a broad clandestine diffusion. Regarded by the French authorities as a Lampoon violent one against their work in Tunisia, a warrant for arrest is delivered against Thâalbi which is stopped the July 28th with Paris, is transferred under escort to Tunis and is imprisoned with the military prison, under the inculpation of attack to the state security. However, thanks to the action taken by a delegation led by Tahar Ben Ammar, the authorities of protectorate carry out the release of Thâalbi on May 1st, 1921, pursuant to the provisions envisaged by the French law of Amnistie of the April 29th 1921. The withdrawal of case, to which the instruction leads, is marked only later.

At the time of the 7th congress of the Destour (12 - May 13rd 1933), the group of the newspaper the Tunisian Action (Habib Bourguiba, Mahmoud Materi, Tahar Sfar and Bahri Guiga) integrates the executive commission of the Destour . But the September 7th, this group is withdrawn without resigning of the party which ends up excluding it. An ideological divergence ends up causing a scission within the party and leads to creation, in 1934, of the Néo-Destour under the direction of Habib Bourguiba. The Destour is gradually évincé of the political scene before disappearing.

Founding members

Ahmed Taoufik El Madani
Ahmed Essafi
Salah Farhat
Ali Kahia
Mohieddine Klibi
Hamouda Mestiri
Ahmed Sakka
Abdelaziz Thâalbi
Habib Zouiten

External bond

History of the birth of Destour

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