First Ladies in Socio-Political Life of Egypt and Tunisia (1981–2011)

The examples of Egypt and Tunisia during the time in office of Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali showed that the absence of clear boundaries of the functions of first ladies that are understood and accepted by society can become one of the reasons for the destabilization of the domestic political situation. In Egypt, First Lady Suzanne Mubarak's influence on domestic and foreign policy had been growing steadily since the late 1980s and reached its peak in the 2000s. By the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule, who had noticeably withdrawn from governing the state due to his illness, his wife had effectively become a rival president or co-president. This caused increasing discontent with the regime among various strata of Egyptian society, mainly among its politically active part, the political elite, and the security forces, including high-level military brass. In early 2011, large-scale popular protests – the Arab Spring – led to a change of power. Leila Trabelsi's (Tunisia) exit far beyond the framework – if not generally recognized, then at least ingrained in the consciousness of a large part of society – of the functions of the first lady, and that against the backdrop of the doings of the corrupt Ben Ali – Trabelsi family clan, also affected negatively the stability of power and led to the overthrow of a substantially incapacitated president.

Egypt, Tunisia, First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, Leila Trabelsi, political leadership, corruption, Arab Spring