III. Independent North Africa
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
If we look at the problems of governument in the independent countries of North Africa in an order of ascending difficulties, we find that Tunisia made the transition from dependence to independence with a minimum of shock and discontinuity, and has functioned since with remarkable smoothness. Arrangements had already been made during the autonomous period for elections to a Constituent Assembly and these were held on March 25, 1956, only five days after Franco-Tunisian protocol recognizing Tunisis as an independeat state had been signed.
The neo-Destour ticket, a naional union front grouping together labor, commercial and agricultural orgenization, won an overwhelming victory (97 per cent of the vote). The Assembly was convened and Bourguiba elected presiding officer, but he resigned shortly to becone Prerier of the first Tunisian government.
The principa! task of the Assembly was to draft a constitution, but as it got down to work it bec me evident that there was strong seatianent among the deputies and throughout the country to change the regime from a monarchy to a republic.
In fact, the eventual diseppearance of the Beylical system hed long been planned by Destouriens and taken for granted by most Tunisians. There had never been any deep feeling among the people for ic, although it had been accepted without rancor.
But the whole political evolution of Tunisia, from the earliest
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