Tunisia: Impressions of a country in democratic transition - Doreen Khoury
In 10 days time, I will be traveling to Tunisia for what will be the 6th time since the fall of Ben Ali on January 14th 2011. I’ve come to have a deep affection for this complex yet serene country, which astonished the world with the speed with which it overthrew a despised dictator and inspired revolutions in other Arab countries. Over the past 7 months, I’ve talked to countless Tunisians from all walks of life about living under Ben Ali, the revolution, and their hopes for the future. Without exception, every person took the time to thoughtfully discuss all these issues in detail. I remember thinking during my first visit: Tunisians talk more politics than the Lebanese! But, whereas Lebanese political talk has been largely reduced to factional accusations and counter accusations, Tunisians were discussing democratic transition, reforms, policies – that is, real politics.
Since my first visit in early 2011, the mood in Tunisia has progressively changed from euphoria and pride to something more somber and even pessimistic. The overthrow of a dictator and his family is only really the beginning of a revolution. It’s when the political and economic systems are overhauled to meet the demands of the people, that we can say the revolution is complete. Here, I’m not talking about a radical/communist/proletarian takeover of the state; its more about stamping out corruption, making the system more representative and accessible to people and sensible economic planning which benefits everyone and not just the dictator and his cronies. These are radical changes for Arab regimes, deep systematic shocks.
During my last visit, most Tunisians I talked to felt that the interim government was moving too slowly on many fronts, not just in terms of improving the socioeconomic situation of citizens, but also failing to bring to justice many of Ben Ali’s cronies. As a young Tunisian waiter told me: “Yes, we’ve got freedom of speech, but now what?” Ordinary Tunisians are feeling that the ownership of their country that they felt during and right after the revolution is rapidly slipping away from them; it’s back to business as usual, albeit with the freedom to criticize.
One important indicator is that whereas earlier this year, many Tunisians I talked to were enthusiastic about casting their first free vote during the October 23 elections for the new transitional council (which will write the new constitution), during this last visit, I felt people were pessimistic about voting, with some even saying that they would not vote at all. The main reason ... more