Tunisia party runs into controversy - FT.com (27 septembre 2011)
►http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/27c5d0aa-ddeb-11e0-a391-00144feabdc0.html
Scores of small parties have been founded in the explosion of political activity since the revolution that overthrew the regime of Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali in January, but none has the UPL’s financial clout.
By August, the UPL campaign, using posters, TV and the web, was depicting factory workers, middle managers and housewives jabbing index fingers assertively downwards and demanding “Democracy ... Now!” against a background coloured the revolutionary-red of the Tunisian flag.
It drowned out the efforts of the only two other parties investing in advertising, the centrist Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and centre-left Ettakatol: both headed by long-time political opponents of the Ben Ali regime.
In response to UPL’s dominance, Tunisia’s electoral commission banned political advertising earlier this month, saying that it wanted to promote a level playing field between large and small parties ahead of the October 23 poll to elect a constituent assembly.
The UPL, along with the PDP, challenged the legality of the ban – although the UPL, unlike the PDP, withdrew its advertising pending a ruling.