By Dr Mohamed Kirat
Four years ago, the death of a young street vendor sparked a popular uprising that ousted Tunisia’s dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Today, although many challenges still lie ahead, Tunisia offers the closest to a success story in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring. Indeed, the country where the momentous changes all began remains the country that offers the greatest hopes of a stable democracy in the Arab Muslim world. However, some argue that the revolution was hijacked and the political players of the old regime are back. None of the aspirations, demands and concerns of the youth were looked at. They still suffer from unemployment, harsh living conditions and high prices. And this is why the majority of them didn’t care to cast their vote in parliamentary and presidential elections. The levers of the economy and politics are still in the hands of those who were key players in Ben Ali’s regime. On the other hand, others assert that change in Tunisia is happening but it needs time.
Tunisia stands out as an exception in the region. Its political evolution is in contrast to the chaos in many parts of the region: Egypt’s return to military authoritarianism, Syria’s civil war and Libya’s turmoil. For the first time in its history, Tunisia has freely elected its president — the 88-year-old former speaker of parliament, Beji Caid Essebsi. This vote completed an electoral cycle that saw the peaceful emergence of a new post-revolutionary democratic order in this North African nation. Some critics have complained about Essebsi’s profile: an old guard politician associated with the fallen Ben Ali regime. But it is hard to deny that Tunisia offers a rare source of optimism in the post-2011 Arab world. Indeed, whatever their earlier mistakes, the Islamists of the Ennahda movement that came to power in 2011 accepted their defeat at the ballot, allowing genuine political alternation. In Egypt, by contrast, a violent military coup in 2013 ended the Islamists’ rule. And this is the difference between Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria. In Tunisia, the army is not involved in politics, while in both Egypt and Algeria the army has been a driving force in politics. Some of the reasons for Tunisia’s democratic success go back deep into the nation’s history: 19th-century reforms had introduced a constitutional order, and the notion of separation between the state and religion. Habib Bourguiba’s post-independence presidency, which lasted till 1987, left an important legacy of public education, social reform and female emancipation. In many ways, Tunisia’s 2011 revolution carried the seeds of its own success: Islamist fundamentalists played no role, the army favoured peaceful change, and there was a strong civil service and middle class to build on. Tunisia’s new president may be a respected and experienced moderate, but he will need a government capable of solving deep economic problems, unemployment, and price rise. Essebsi will have to manage relations with neighbours in a troubled region where there is much anxiety about the events in both Libya and Syria. The main challenge facing the newly elected president is the economy, particularly unemployment. But Tunisia’s success so far confirms that democracy and Islam are in no way incompatible. It is an example that should, with time, inspire others in the region.
With a new progressive constitution and a full parliament elected in October, Tunisia is being hailed as an example of democratic change for a region still struggling with the aftermath of the 2011 Arab spring revolts. The country avoided the bitter post-revolt divisions troubling Libya and Egypt. The December 21 election was between Essebsi and the incumbent, Moncef Marzouki, who claims to defend the legacy of the 2011 revolution. Essebsi, a former parliament speaker under Ben Ali and a close associate of Habib Bourguiba, independent Tunisia’s charismatic first president, won 55.5 percent of the vote, with Marzouki getting 44.5 percent .
The Ennahda leadership persuaded its grassroots not to come out openly in support of Marzouki’s attempt to continue as president, thus keeping open the possibility of an entente with Essebsi’s Nidaa Tounes party. Ennahda leader Ghannouchi has also successfully argued against the party presenting its own candidate for president. He has thus kept open the possibility that the broad coalition government that is expected to be formed, by February, by Essebsi’s Nidaa Tounes party, could include one or two Islamists. Marzouki has warned that if Essebsi became president, there would be a lack of democracy and separation of powers with the same party controlling the presidency, the parliament and the prime minister’s office. Essebsi’s campaign has countered that such an outcome offers guarantees of stable governance at a time when Libya, across Tunisia’s southern border, is drifting towards full civil war. While he will have to satisfy his secular, Western-oriented supporters, one of Essebsi’s biggest challenges will be cooperating with Ennahda, the country’s Islamist party, which has worked hard to prove that Islam and democracy can coexist. Ennahda swept to power in the 2011 post-revolution elections, led a coalition government for two years, then handed power — peacefully — to a caretaker government. This paved the way for the parliament to adopt a new, more progressive constitution that expanded civil liberties. Despite its responsible behaviour, Ennahda, which was excluded from government before 2011, paid a political price for being unable to manage security and give a good restart to the economy. Last October, it won 69 seats in the election for parliament, versus 85 for Nidaa Tounes, and did not put up a candidate for the presidential race or directly endorse anyone else. While Tunisia’s commitment to elections and other democratic processes has been inspiring, building deep roots for democratic institutions and values that can stand the test of time will take years. Still, the country offers more hope than any other Muslim country shaken by the 2011 political upheavals and deserves good political and economic support from the US, Europe, neighbouring Algeria and the Arab Gulf countries.
The writer is a professor of public relations and Mass Communication at the College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University
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