Zine El Abidine Ben Ali a case known as the "couscous connection". French television news was blocked in Tunisia during the trial. At the 1994 elections, opposition parties polled 2.25% and gained 19 of 163 seats in Parliament—the first time opposition parties had actually managed to get into the chamber. Ben Ali was unopposed for a second full term, again after being the only candidate to get enough endorsements to qualify. Turnout was officially reported at 95%. However, at this and subsequent elections, opposition parties never accounted for more than 19 percent of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies. All legislation continued to originate
Ali Abdullah Saleh vicinity at the time. In early 2011, following the Tunisian revolution which resulted in the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition parties attempted to do the same in Yemen. Opposition elements started leading protests and demanding that Saleh end his three-decade-long rule because of the perceived lack of democratic reform, widespread corruption and human rights abuses carried out by him and his allies. His net worth was estimated to be between 32 and 64 billion dollars with his money spread across multiple accounts in Europe and abroad. On 2 February 2011, facing a major