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| Tunisia goes on the defensive, two years after overthrowing regime | Tunisia goes on the defensive, two years after overthrowing regime |
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| Two years on from the day Tunisians overthrew the regime of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, sparking democracy movements across the region, the coalition government headed by the Islamist party Nahda is on the defensive. With little progress on tackling chronic levels of unemployment, it faces an increasingly strong challenge from a new party, Nida Tounes (Tunisian Call), led by Beji Caid Sebsi, a veteran politician who was a key figure in the early years of the Ben Ali regime. | Two years on from the day Tunisians overthrew the regime of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, sparking democracy movements across the region, the coalition government headed by the Islamist party Nahda is on the defensive. With little progress on tackling chronic levels of unemployment, it faces an increasingly strong challenge from a new party, Nida Tounes (Tunisian Call), led by Beji Caid Sebsi, a veteran politician who was a key figure in the early years of the Ben Ali regime. |
| Nida Tounes argues that Islamist politicians – many of whom lost years of their lives in jail under Ben Ali – have proved themselves incapable of running a modern state. It also claims to speak for those who fear that Nahda wants to reinvent Tunisian society along Islamist lines. | Nida Tounes argues that Islamist politicians – many of whom lost years of their lives in jail under Ben Ali – have proved themselves incapable of running a modern state. It also claims to speak for those who fear that Nahda wants to reinvent Tunisian society along Islamist lines. |
| But the party's critics depict it as a wolf in sheep's clothing, and warn that it represents a tradition of authoritarianism now looking to make a comeback. | But the party's critics depict it as a wolf in sheep's clothing, and warn that it represents a tradition of authoritarianism now looking to make a comeback. |
| Selma Elloumi Rekik, a businesswoman and founding member of Nida Tounes, said: "We are not against the Islamists, but they don't represent all Tunisians, nor the country's history of being a crossroads of many cultures and civilisations." After the landslide win for the Islamists in the first election following the revolution, in October 2011, she said: "We felt there needed to be an equilibrium, otherwise we would no longer be in a democratic transition." | Selma Elloumi Rekik, a businesswoman and founding member of Nida Tounes, said: "We are not against the Islamists, but they don't represent all Tunisians, nor the country's history of being a crossroads of many cultures and civilisations." After the landslide win for the Islamists in the first election following the revolution, in October 2011, she said: "We felt there needed to be an equilibrium, otherwise we would no longer be in a democratic transition." |
| The new party aspired "to bring together Tunisia's democratic forces", she added. It opposes any move to exclude figures associated with the old regime from political life, although Elloumi Rekik emphasised that none of the 12 founding members of Nida Tounes were ever members of Ben Ali's ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). | The new party aspired "to bring together Tunisia's democratic forces", she added. It opposes any move to exclude figures associated with the old regime from political life, although Elloumi Rekik emphasised that none of the 12 founding members of Nida Tounes were ever members of Ben Ali's ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). |
| She said the new party believed that in these times of economic crisis the country would pay a "very high price" if it excluded ex-RCD figures from political life whatever their skills and experience. | She said the new party believed that in these times of economic crisis the country would pay a "very high price" if it excluded ex-RCD figures from political life whatever their skills and experience. |
| One such figure is Caid Sebsi, an interior minister under independent Tunisia's charismatic but authoritarian first president, Habib Bourguiba. He continued as a member of the RCD central committee until at least the early 1990s, when he chaired Ben Ali's rubber-stamp parliament. | One such figure is Caid Sebsi, an interior minister under independent Tunisia's charismatic but authoritarian first president, Habib Bourguiba. He continued as a member of the RCD central committee until at least the early 1990s, when he chaired Ben Ali's rubber-stamp parliament. |
| At 86 years old, the silver-haired Caid Sebsi, is nowadays viewed by an increasing number of Tunisians as a reassuringly grandfatherly figure in unsettling times, as rumours of corruption and incompetence surge periodically around the Islamist-led government. News of armed groups using the Tunisian mountains as a training ground alternate with reports of thugs disrupting opposition meetings, and violent anti-government protests at the border with Libya. In the hot-house world of newspaper offices and radio stations around Tunis's central avenue, every week seems to bring a fresh political scandal. | At 86 years old, the silver-haired Caid Sebsi, is nowadays viewed by an increasing number of Tunisians as a reassuringly grandfatherly figure in unsettling times, as rumours of corruption and incompetence surge periodically around the Islamist-led government. News of armed groups using the Tunisian mountains as a training ground alternate with reports of thugs disrupting opposition meetings, and violent anti-government protests at the border with Libya. In the hot-house world of newspaper offices and radio stations around Tunis's central avenue, every week seems to bring a fresh political scandal. |
| In the Islamist camp, Nahda's president, Rached Ghannouchi, has come under fierce criticism from those who see him as too conciliatory towards the more conservative currents of Salafist Islamism. But he, too, is capable of playing the reassuring elder. "Tunisia is only now learning how to use freedom responsibly," he said, quoting a Tunisian proverb that warns of caution when a deaf mute speaks for the first time. | In the Islamist camp, Nahda's president, Rached Ghannouchi, has come under fierce criticism from those who see him as too conciliatory towards the more conservative currents of Salafist Islamism. But he, too, is capable of playing the reassuring elder. "Tunisia is only now learning how to use freedom responsibly," he said, quoting a Tunisian proverb that warns of caution when a deaf mute speaks for the first time. |
| Some Nahda members suggest the latest spike in tension, ahead of the revolution's anniversary, has been encouraged by those opposed to legislation that would bar all former senior members of the RCD from standing as election candidates or taking part in government for the next 10 years. As well as dampening any hopes of Caid Sebsi running for president, it would introduce a concept of "political responsibility" for individuals who may not have broken any law as such. | Some Nahda members suggest the latest spike in tension, ahead of the revolution's anniversary, has been encouraged by those opposed to legislation that would bar all former senior members of the RCD from standing as election candidates or taking part in government for the next 10 years. As well as dampening any hopes of Caid Sebsi running for president, it would introduce a concept of "political responsibility" for individuals who may not have broken any law as such. |
| This would be applied to those judged to have helped the Ben Ali regime continue in power, whether by turning a blind eye to corruption or by being involved in the regime's public relations, said Zied Adhari, a lawyer and Nahda member of the assembly. | This would be applied to those judged to have helped the Ben Ali regime continue in power, whether by turning a blind eye to corruption or by being involved in the regime's public relations, said Zied Adhari, a lawyer and Nahda member of the assembly. |
| "A democratic transition is a fragile thing. If you are a businessman, and you built your fortune thanks to the old regime, Ben Ali has gone but you are still there with your money. You can still finance groups that are against the revolution. You could fund protests, problems, disturbances, even election campaigns. So we need a way of neutralising elements who were closely linked to the old regime. They can't reinvent themselves as democrats overnight," he said. | "A democratic transition is a fragile thing. If you are a businessman, and you built your fortune thanks to the old regime, Ben Ali has gone but you are still there with your money. You can still finance groups that are against the revolution. You could fund protests, problems, disturbances, even election campaigns. So we need a way of neutralising elements who were closely linked to the old regime. They can't reinvent themselves as democrats overnight," he said. |
| Around a dozen former ministers and presidential advisers from the Ben Ali era are held in Mornaguia prison on the outskirts of Tunis, either in pre-trial detention or serving sentences for offenses involving corruption or human rights abuses. Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, remain in exile in Saudi Arabia, which has not allowed them to be extradited back to Tunisia. | Around a dozen former ministers and presidential advisers from the Ben Ali era are held in Mornaguia prison on the outskirts of Tunis, either in pre-trial detention or serving sentences for offenses involving corruption or human rights abuses. Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, remain in exile in Saudi Arabia, which has not allowed them to be extradited back to Tunisia. |
| Up to 80 other former ministers or business associates of the old regime are stilled banned from travel outside Tunisia, as their cases continue under investigation by a judicial system that is itself still in upheaval. Whiling away their time in the stylish cafes of Tunis's northern suburbs, some former ministers are ready to defend their records, arguing that they were unaware of the level of human rights abuses taking place in Ben Ali's jails, and that their skills could now be put to good use to "serve their country". | Up to 80 other former ministers or business associates of the old regime are stilled banned from travel outside Tunisia, as their cases continue under investigation by a judicial system that is itself still in upheaval. Whiling away their time in the stylish cafes of Tunis's northern suburbs, some former ministers are ready to defend their records, arguing that they were unaware of the level of human rights abuses taking place in Ben Ali's jails, and that their skills could now be put to good use to "serve their country". |
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