This is how the New York Times described Tunisia in 2006

I did a quick search in the archives of the New York Times on Tunisia and found this from the Herald Tribune, October 30th, 2006 written by Stanley Weiss:  "In Tunis, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali sticks to the "Tunisia model" - repressive politics alongside progressive economics. Claiming an absurd 95- percent victory in the last election, Ben Ali's regime argues that Tunisia's reputation as a leader in women's rights and the most open economy in the Arab world - with a robust middle class, low poverty and high literacy - show that you can give people dignity without democracy."