This is the last post of Tunisia Elections. Not that there aren’t any more
important issues to discuss in Tunisian politics (quite the opposite) but the
initial objective was to cover activities surrounding the first election in
this country, which is now done.
To date, the majority of steps required to begin the
work of the Constituent Assembly have been completed. Protests and
contestations of the election results are over, negotiations between major
parties (Ennahda, Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol) to form a government
are ongoing (despite the temporary withdrawal of Ettakatol) and the date for
the first day of the Constituent Assembly has been set for November 22nd.
Moreover, the emplacement where the new Assembly will
be has been chosen unanimously between the eight parties that garnered the most
votes in the election. The Tunisian parliamentarians will work at the former
location of the Chamber of Bardo (article in French).
My personal
impressions of Tunisia
Let’s start with the numerous positive aspects.
Tunisia is a wonderful country with magnificent ruins, beaches, coastal areas,
hills, an enormous desert, small villages, water basins and incredibly beautiful
and breathtaking landscapes.
Tunis, the capital, has no reason to be envious of the
world’s biggest cities and the famous Bourguiba Avenue is bursting with
attractive cafés and restaurants serving great food.
In fact, food is one of the things I appreciated the
most in Tunisia. No matter where you come from and whatever your culinary
habits are, it’s practically impossible not to enjoy the traditional meals of
this country.
All servings and sandwiches composed of meat, from
chicken to chawarma, and the always excellent « plat escalope » are a
carnivore’s dream (I can testify).
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| The one and only Tunisian couscous. |
And my favourite dish of all is THE famous couscous. Either
with fish or chicken, I’ve never eaten a couscous as good as the Tunisian one. No
doubt, it will be the last meal I eat before leaving in a few days.
But above all, what is the most remarkable in Tunisia is
its citizens. Rarely have I seen people as kind, friendly and always ready to
help you. With its relatively young population, Tunisia is no doubt destined
for a fabulous future.
Politics
On the political side, the democratic transition since
the end of the regime in January 2011 is as remarkable as it is impressive.
In less than 10 months, Tunisia has managed to rid
itself of a dictatorship and hold free and transparent elections worthy in all
aspects of the great democracies of the world.
Add to that the fact that the proceedings were overseen
by an independent organization (High Authority for the Achievement of the
Revolution) that didn’t refrain from taking courageous decisions such as
excluding extremist religious parties, gender equality on electoral lists and
so on.
What is Tunisia’s political future? It’s difficult to
say. It all depends on the success of the Constituent Assembly and the next
election coming up in a year. Up to now, the parties seem willing to
collaborate. It remains to be seen if this will continue during the
negotiations regarding the constitution and especially when discussions will
involve aspects on which parties have different points of view (legislative
system – presidential or parliamentarian).
One thing is certain though. If a parliamentary system
with a single chamber is instituted, Islamists will probably govern the country
for a number of years. On the other hand, if a presidential system is chosen,
we should see a more equitable sharing of power between progressives and
Islamists. My detailed opinion on the subject can be found in the following
article.
Disappointments
Now some negative aspects. I was disappointed with two
groups: the Islamists and the Progressives (I combine political parties and
independents).
The Progressives, by their refusal to face reality,
offered the election to Ennahda on a silver platter. That’s the consequence of
not having a united front and presenting hundreds of different political
platforms.
While Progressives were arguing amongst themselves, in
spite of often presenting almost identical political programs, Islamists were
united and managed to garner all the religious votes to finish way ahead with
41% of the seats and 37% of the votes. I discussed the topic in this article.
Cumulatively, Progressives finished with more than 50%
of all the votes. A quick prediction: if Progressives don’t find a way to form
a coalition before the next election, Ennahda will again finish first. This
time though, Islamists might have a majority depending on the electoral system
used. In the last election, the mixed proportional balloting system was chosen,
which greatly favors small parties.
The Islamists
As for the Islamists, my opinion substantially changed
only a few days ago. When I started this blog, I intentionally ignored any prefabricated
opinions about them. Ennahda constantly repeated during the election campaign
that it cherished a modern Islam that wouldn’t restrain the rights of any
individual.
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Ennahda's leader, Rached
Ghannouchi.
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Many media, especially the French, accused them of using
a double speech. Others simply treated them as extremists or even criminals
with evidence supporting their allegations. It’s the case of a ruling of the
Canadian Federal Court of Appeals in 2003, Zrig v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration where we could note that the
Canadian status section qualifies Ennahda as a “movement which supports the use
of violence and uses terrorist methods” and that is involved in “assassinations
and bombings” .
Concerning their leader Rached Ghannouchi, it states
that “he is a terrorist and is considered by certain sources as one of the
masterminds of terrorism”. Also, the ruling mentions that ‘he called for
violence against the U.S. and threatened to destroy its interests in the Arab
world. He also demanded the destruction of the state of Israel”.
In addition, the General Secretary of the party, Hamadi
Jebali, is suspected by many of having participated in terrorist acts on August 2nd 1987 where four explosions occurred at the same time in Sousse
and Monastir hotels wounding 13 people.
In spite of all these elements, I focused only
(rightly or wrongly) on their actions and engagements since last January’s
uprising and even considered them as “moderates” in certain articles that I
wrote. Ennahda often asks its accusers to “wait and see how we will act before
criticizing us”.
So it’s exactly what I did and today I feel as if I’ve
been caught. Unfortunately I now believe the party uses a double speech and
that its leaders are hiding a certain religious agenda to the population.
Recent disconcerting declarations by Souad Abderrahim, Ennahda’s star candidate
who supposedly embodies “modernism”, combined with the party leaders reluctance
to comment, is overwhelming proof of
that.
For those who haven’t heard, she said that “single mothers
don’t have the right to exist” and that “there is no place in Tunisia for
absolute liberty”. A few days before that she also revealed that “Ennahda
doesn’t plan to close nightclubs but will put into practice proper moral
behaviour”.
I might add that what surprised me the most wasn’t Ms.
Abderrahim’s declarations but the lack of indignation in most of the
population. In fact, not all newspapers commented on the subject and except for
a few young people on social networks, there was little denunciation of her
statements.
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| Souad Abderrahim, Ennahda's controversial candidate. |
Is this a sign that many Tunisians secretly share a
similar opinion? Lofti Achour, a well known film producer, says so in a
fascinating article well worth reading on his Facebook page (in French). His theory is that
many people support Ennahda but don’t dare say so in public which might explain
the party’s success in the last election. The obvious facts are that poor
regions aren’t the only areas who voted massively for them. Even in the Diaspora
and Tunis ridings, their results were as high.
Whatever is said and in spite of circumstances being
better than in any other Arab country, there is work to be done before
mentalities evolve – on things such as the rights of women and especially of homosexuals,
a very taboo subject.
The best moments
My most enjoyable experience is unquestionably meeting bloggers of the Revolution. Azyz Amami, Adib Samoud and Sanda Salakta of Regards Vigilants are fascinating individuals. They are very young and have already unique
experience that many can’t even imagine or will ever know.
I was also fortunate to meet politicians with
promising futures. Wajdi Elleuch, an active member of Afek Tounes, who has a
doctorate in engineering from Sherbrooke university, is one of them. He allowed
me to accompany a head of list candidate, Chokri Yaich, for a day of the
election campaign in a poor area.
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| One day in the election campaign following Afek Tounes' head of list candidate in Sfax 2, Chokri Yaich. |
It was very enriching and I was able to witness the
significant differences between those areas and richer cities of the north. M.
Yaich was elected and he will be one of the four representatives of Afek Tounes
in the Constituent Assembly.
Congratulations also to CPR’s Mabrouka M’barek, with
whom I made conducted an interview. She was elected in the Americas and rest of Europe riding.
A special mention to the mayor of Sidi Bou Saïd and
member of PDM, Raouf Daklahoui, for whom double-talk is an unknown concept and also to three young politicians, Wafa Madder, Omezzine Khelifa and Arabiya Kousri who will eventually
find themselves in the Tunisian Parliament.
I can’t forget the group of people at Tunisia-live.net, the
best source of information in the country. This young team of exceptional
journalists contributes to the development and notoriety of Tunisia on an
international scale.
On a complete different topic, here is a short
humorous song (in French) about the election that was very popular on the
social networks in Tunisia:
Thanks and a personal plug.
This blog, as basic as it is, required the help of
numerous people I wish to thank. Firstly, the folks at the Prince Arthur Herald
and Marc-Olivier Fortin who published my articles on their platform.
Secondly, Carole Gagné, a very talented lady for whom
the French language has no secrets. In addition to her abilities, she’s a
tireless colleague. The same goes for Bernard Bujold, a computer whiz whose
advice was instrumental in getting the blog going. The press card he supplied
me with was very useful in getting to attend many events. He is the proud
founder of an internet journal which has over 50,000 followers: LeStudio1.
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The articles of this blog were
published on the Prince Arthur
Herald.
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For the English version of my articles, I must thank
Marcus McCormick and Marco Ferraro. They are translation workhorses who paid
attention to small details and put in a lot of time.
A big thank you also to Sameh Krichah, a very
intelligent young activist involved in numerous organisations, which you will
soon see in the media and on the political front.
Finally, in the name of all the international students
who participated in the Call for a Rise
project, I want to express our gratitude to our Tunisians friends at AIESEC
Carthage for welcoming us.
Thanks to all these wonderful people, the blog made
its way. In addition to the articles in the Prince Arthur Herald, Tunisia Elections
was consulted more than 5,500 times. All this support generated interest outside
of Tunisia: two articles were published in the Montreal Gazette (here and here).
The La Tribune newspaper (from Sherbrooke) and the University of Sherbrooke's website wrote about it.
In Montreal, La Presse newspaper published an article that gave some advertisement to the blog and I was interviewed by Benoît Dutrizac on 98,5 FM radio,
by Réjean Blais on the Estrie-Express radio show,
and also by the RTCI English Program.
Conclusion
The transition to democracy isn’t completed in Tunisia.
On the opposite, it’s just the beginning and we will have to wait a few years
before truly evaluating the benefits of the Revolution.
Beyond the criticisms that some may express, the fact
is that the way Tunisians forced their dictator to leave the country and what
has transpired since then is absolutely remarkable.
Unquestionably, since last January, Tunisia is a model
for the Arab world and will continue being so for many years. This translates
into added pressure for the country because if the Revolution finally brings
about a true and long term democracy, their Arab neighbours will be inspired
and continue striving for it. I’m certain Tunisia is up to the challenge.
My journey in Tunisia has allowed me to see how a
country establishes a democracy and puts in place mechanisms to guarantee its
long term stability.
It has been a once in a lifetime experience, a unique
and golden opportunity to witness a process so vital for every society. I’m
grateful to those who helped me in any way for this project.
To my Tunisians friends, I want to say بسلاما and may all your
endeavours be successful.
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| The Call for a Rise team. |
