Tunisian Consultative Conference
Presided over by the French Resident-General or his representative, its remit was originally very narrow: it was not allowed to discuss political or constitutional matters, or public finances and accounts.
Although this bill did not go forward, it prompted the Foreign Minister Alexandre Ribot to write to the Resident General Justin Massicault on 24 October 1890 suggesting that he gathered representatives of French colonists periodically to seek their views on agricultural, industrial and commercial matters of importance to them.
On 22 February 1896, representatives of French people who were neither farmers nor businessmen were admitted, thus including workers, civil servants, and the liberal professions for the first time.
[4] This method allowed the Resident General to make sure that those taking seats were those of established position, or indeed, in the case of the deputy mayors, chosen personally by him.
The conference was to be elected by universal suffrage of male French colonists, now divided into eight constituencies (Northwest, Bizerte, Tunis, Northeast, Centre-East, Centre-West, Sfax and South) and three colleges - agricultural, commercial (now including industrialists) and a third for others (workers, civil servants and professionals).
[14] This process of choosing Tunisian delegates was intended to ensure that they were accommodating towards the Protectorate government, and the conference quickly developed a reputation as being an institution for "béni oui-oui" (colonial yes-men).
In one early case, El Hadj Saïd Ben Abdelattif was appointed as a delegate, but a few years later, in 1915, died in the South of the country fighting the French army.
Zaouche's view was that taking part in the conference was a way of making Tunisians' voices heard, and he used his position to speak out on many topics of importance to the nationalist movement.
Zaouche remained a vociferous and leading member of the conference until 1917, when he was appointed caïd of Sousse, a post which required him to step down.
A Higher Council was set up, composed of ministers and heads of service, as well as three French and three Tunisian conference delegates, chosen by their peers.
At their last session in 1920, seven of the sixteen delegates, from Tunis, Sousse, Bizerte and Le Kef) made a statement decrying the fact that they had been appointed to their positions as long ago as 1907, calling for their terms of office to be ended, and for the replacements to be directly elected.
[22] The problems of 1920 in the conference was followed by a serious political crisis between Naceur Bey and the Resident General Lucien Saint in the spring of 1922.
The Grand Council had increased powers - it could now modify the budget instead of just scrutinising it, and the Resident General now had to secure the agreement of both sections before contracting any loans.
The electoral process for the Tunisian section was more complex, but represented a real step forward compared to the system of designated delegates created in 1907.
In 1928 Tunisians who held a high school diploma were given the vote for the first time, and the number of delegates they elected indirectly rose from 18 to 26 (33% of the Council).
[26] This was the last reform before the War – on 21 November 1940 the Grand Council was suspended and its powers were exercised by the Resident General assisted by a consultative committee comprising five French members and five Tunisians (Chenik, Ben Ammar, Albert Bessis, Ahmed Acacha and Abderrahmane El Louze).
[29] The attempt to break this by calling new elections also ran into trouble, as the Resident General Louis Périllier tried to push ahead while Mohamed Chenik, grand vizir since 17 August 1950, refused to convene the Tunisian electors until his demands for internal autonomy for Tunisia had been met.
