Ben Ali promises more democracy and political multiplicity

President Zein al-Abidin Ben Ali of Tunisia said the achievement of comprehensive development has become one of his government's targets to continue the development of democratic progress and political multiplicity, which serve the Tunisian people.

This came within his press statement on last Friday on the occasion of putting himself up as a candidate for the president elections on October 24.

He added that he dreams of a possible Tunis at the beginning of the new century through the continuous progress in economic, political, and social reform.

The secretary generals of the People's Unity Party and the Democratic Unionist Party are expected to announce their candidacy for the October 1999 presidential elections to be the first multiparty presidential elections in Tunis' history since its independence in 1956.