Endemic corruption in Tunisia was one of the triggers that sparked the Tunisian Revolution and subsequently the Arab Spring. On 4 January 2011, Tunisians voiced their discontent with the state of corruption that has permeated all levels of government. As the protests continued, President Ben Ali and his family were forced into exile in Saudi Arabia, ending his 23 year single-party reign. Ben Ali and his wife were each sentenced to 35 years in prison in absentia, after having been found guilty of
embezzlement
and misappropriation of public funds. In addition, more than 30 family members of Ben Ali and his wife were arrested, and some were charged with economic crimes and
abuse of power
. The Global Financial Integrity estimate, as cited in a 2011 press release by
Financial Integrity
and Economic Development
, indicates that Tunisia lost more than USD 1 billion per year between 2000 and 2008 due to corruption,
bribery
,
kickbacks
, trade mispricing and criminal activities.
However, on a more positive note, an anti-corruption initiative flourished in December 2012 when the National Constituent Assembly presented the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which is based on four main elements: the establishment of a national system of integrity, the promotion of the independent National Anti-Corruption Authority, boosting the participation of civil society and the training of specialised journalists. Nevertheless, an April 2012 article by
ANSAmed
reveals that suspicion towards the new government's efforts is gaining among Tunisians, as corruption and
nepotism
are still widespread in the country. In June 2012, the country's administrative reform minister, the minister in charge of rooting out corruption, resigned. He stated, according to a July 2012
Financial Times
article, that the government failed to give him adequate resources to do his job. The same view is also reflected in public opinion. According to Transparency International's
Global Corruption Barometer 2013
, 57% of the surveyed believe that the government is ineffective in fighting corruption, while only 11% believe that it is effective. Furthermore, 61% of the surveyed believe that corruption has increased a lot in Tunisia over the past two years.
According to the
Bertelsmann Foundation 2012
, corruption is perceived to be significant, despite it being considered less pervasive when compared to the neighbouring countries. Furthermore, despite the efforts of the interim government to crackdown on corruption, efforts are still considered to be limited. For instance, government officials are not required to disclose their income or assets, as reported by the
US Department of State 2012
. Corrupt practices have also been detected within the government. According to a January 2013 article published by
AlMasdar
, a Tunisian journalist recently accused Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalam of wasting and squandering public money. The journalist unveiled that a secret transfer of USD 1 million took place from China and into a private account of the Foreign Ministry. A government lawyer denied any suspiciousness involving the payment, claiming that the sum was a
gift
from China and a contribution to the China-Arab meeting, which took place in May 2012. The Secretary of State confirmed the existence of the payment and demanded the transfer of the money to the treasury, as the law requires the transfer of all funds and donations from abroad to the state budget. Nevertheless, the article notes that critics have demanded an investigation into the legitimacy of the Foreign Ministry's private bank account, as well as a detailed inspection of the USD 1 million payment.
