A lot of people are wondering these days if it’s possible to put the word Islam in the
same sentance as democracy and human rights.
And, to tell you the truth, there are not so many examples to be optimistic about.
Even in Turkey, where the separation between church and state is guaranteed in their constitution,
they are moving towards an Islamic theocracy.
Nevertheless, there is one country that escapes this trend.
And this country is TUNISIA.
With approximately 10 million inhabitants, Tunisia was the cradle of the so-called “Arab
Spring”…
you know, that phenomena that started in winter of 2011.
Anyway, this is where everything started, more specifically, things started in the city
of SIDI BOUZID, when a 26 years old fruit seller burnt himself to death during a protest
in front of a Government building.
This is how a revolution spread all across northern Africa.
And from here you probably know the rest of the story.
In Egypt, they overthrew their dictator… but now they have a new one and he is as bad
or even worse than the original.
Libya is a failed state with a high risk of becoming a radical Islamic country...
And, well, it’s probably better not to talk about Syria…
Among all of this madness, Tunisia is the an exception.
After ousting their dictator ABIDINE BEN ALI, Tunisians wrote a brand new constitution inspired
by French law.
This new text allows freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
But not only that...
20% of parliament's seats are now occupied by women.
This is a big achievement if you compare Tunisia with any other Islamic country.
And this is why Tunisia has become one of the main targets of DAESH.
So far, more than 73 people have already died in 3 terrorist attacks.
And this is what leads us to many questions…
Can Tunisian liberal democracy survive in such a hostile environment?
Can Tunisia become a model for their neighbouring countries?
Will the European Union help or damage this young democracy?
Today we are going to answer all this questions, but before we do that, let´s look back at
the history.
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF ABIDINE BEN ALI
In 1955, Tunisia got it’s independence from France.
Just like other countries in the region, the Republic of Tunisia followed the trend of
the so-called Arab Socialism or Pan Arabism.
This was an ideological cocktail that mixed authoritarianism, charismatic leaders, a centralized
economy and, finally, a secular state.
You might even say, an anti-religious state…
This ideology became very fashionable in the area and brought us well-known tyrants like
GADAFI, in Libya or NASSER in Egypt.
In the Tunisian case, the man was the man you are seeing on the screen now, his name
was HABIB BOURGUIBA.
In summary, his government was famous for its corruption, clientelism and systematic
devaluations of their national currency, the DINAR.
It’s no wonder the economy eventually collapsed.
And what was the outcome?
Well, in 1987, when President Bourgiba was at the hospital, getting over a heart attack,
his prime minister, ABIDINE BEN ALI, took his seat.
Tunisians called this the Medical coup-d´eta.
No blood was spilled.
In fact there was no violence whatsoever…
Even when Bourguiba left the hospital, Ben Ali sent him to a luxury mansion, with doctors
and nurses who would take care of him.
Legend even says that he went to visit him often.
So you can say this was a coup d’etat but… with lots of love and care!
So… what did Ben Ali do?
During his mandate, he promised he would bring democracy to Tunisia.
And…
well, he called for elections several times.
But any candidate who wanted to run for office needed the approval of at least 30 members
of the government party.
This means, in most of the cases, the only eligible candidate was…
Surprise, surprise, the one from the government´s party.
Thanks to this, Ben Ali held power for 23 years.
23 years that, of course, continued the tradition of corruption and clientelism the Tunisian
people were already rather used to.
But there is something positive we must say about Mr. Ben Ali.
This is his economic pragmatism.
Since the start of his rule, he opened the country to the foreign investment and allowed
foreign companies to establish themselves in Tunisia.
This is how several hotel chains set up in the country - attracted to the great weather.
This lead to tourism becoming Tunisia´s main industry, followed by the olive industry.
And don’t forget the latter of those, we’re going to get to that later.
So, during these 20 years, Tunisians actually multiplied their income by three.
In fact, in 2010, Tunisia hosted over 6 million tourists, which is about half the number who
visited neighbouring Egypt.
The difference here is that Egyptians have the pyramids and nine times the population.
Pay attention to the numbers here…
Tunisia has 10 million inhabitants and hosts around 6 million tourists every single year.
So, why do I emphasise this quite so much?
Well, tourist are more than an influx of money.
They also bring another culture.
Suddenly, in a country where Islam is the main religion, it became normal to see Western
women walking around without their head covered, homosexual couples kissing, and people drinking
alcohol.
There is no other Islamic country that has been quite so exposed to other lifestyles
as Tunisia.
So if you are one of those British people who got drunk and sunburned in some Tunisian
hotel, well, congratulations, you can compliment yourself for bringing your cultural background
to Tunisian society.
Thanks to this cultural exposure, something quite extraordinary happened…
THE DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN TUNISIA
In 2010, the Tunisian economy was on fire… but their unemployment rate rose to above
12%.
Added to this the were corruption scandals and the abuses by the authorities under the
Ben Ali´s rule.
All this things were hidden from the people and would never be published in the local
press.
But the foreign media?
Well, they reported everything.
And in a country with so much tourism, what gets published outside, can be easily be read
inside.
So people knew what was going on, and they didn’t like it.
And this is why demonstrations were organised in several cities.
Perhaps these protests would have never been so big if it wasn’t for MOHAMED BOUAZIZI,
a 26 years old boy who burned himself to death after police took over his little street shop.
This is how the Jasmine Revolution started.
All of a sudden, thousands of protesters gathered in every single Tunisian city.
But… unlike other dictators, Abidine Ben Ali didn´t confront them at all…
“Ben Ali quits after 23 years in power and leaves Tunisia”
After this momentos occasion, the president of the Tunisian parliament formed a provisional
government and freed over 500 political prisoners.
Not only that, but all those Tunisian dissidents who were living in exile came back to the
country.
Among them, there was this man, named MONCEF MARZOUKI, who was the president of the Arab
Commission for the Human Rights.
“The question you might wonder now is whether the Tunisia we are talking is Islamic.
The answer is no… the Tunisia we are talking is democratic.”
So a year after BOUAZIZI burnt himself to death, Tunisia was holding their first free
elections.
And our friend Marzouki would become the President…
So what was the problem then?
Well… the Prime Minister was from the Islamist Party.
We are talking about the ENNAHDA movement: the Tunisian, and perhaps more moderate, version
of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a time where more than 100 political parties appeared, ENNAHDA was the only one with a
clear an efficient structure.
This is why this party won the majority of the seats in the Tunisian parliament.
This is especially problematic if we take to account that this parliament was the one
meant to write the new Tunisian Constitution.
So you might wonder: How is it possible that alter all of this, the Tunisian Constitution
is still secular?
Well, here’s the story.
After so much political uncertainty, the hardcore Islamists created the so-called “Islamic
Leagues” that, of course, where supported by the ruling party in an attempt to speed
up the Islamization of the country.
This lead to violence on the streets and even worse…
“Tunisia shocked by assassinations: Opposition leaders Mohamed Brahmi and Chokri Belaid killed
with the same gun” Meanwhile, the income from tourism was falling
sharply.
No one wants to travel to a dangerous country.
And this generated more and more social unrest.
With this situation, the secular parties created a common front against NEHANDA and the Prime
Minister.
And this is how the Islamist bloc was forced to include secular politicians on their cabinet.
Months later, both the Islamist Leagues and the Muslim brotherhood from Egypt were considered
as terrorist groups by the government.
And, of course, the most extremist politicians had to leave the government too.
Actually, in some months, the whole ENNAHDA movement left the cabinet and all the decision
making power was in the hands of the secular parties…
with just one condition.
Islam should remain as the official religion of the new Constitution.
So what was the result?
Well, the new Tunisian Constitution is not based on the sharia law, and it includes freedom
of religion and the freedom of speech.
But not only that, it also guarantees a non-religious education.
Islam now holds a symbolic position only.
But when it comes to politics, Tunisia is a secular nation.
New, free, media organisations were formed, followed by the creation of one of the strongest
civil societies in all of North Africa.
After this, it is no surprise that in the new elections, in 2014, Islamist parties lost
to the secular-liberal coalition, named NIDA TOUNES.
If you still don’t believe me when I tell you about the influence of tourism, look at
this electoral map.
If you pay attention, you can see how the Islamist lost in the regions that are closer
to the coast… and where all the hotels and resorts are.
But hold on a second!
Because when things are going to get a little dirtier.
WHO IS THREATENING TUNISIAN DEMOCRACY?
Months alter Tunisia passed their Constitution, DAESH, or the Islamic State, organized their
first terrorista attack at the EL BARDO museum: one of the main tourist attractions in the
country.
After this, two other attacks followed.
In total there were 73 deaths.
And not only that…
“As a result, the number of British arrivals, which looked set to break records in the early
months of 2015, has fallen by 93.2% for the first five months of this year.”
This is why the new Tunisian government has a security crisis and an economic crisis too.
And one is destroying their main industry.
This is why news stories like this are so important...
“Tunisia to offer $50 billion of projects to foreign investors”
Not only that, but the European Union has eliminated all the fares for Tunisian Olive
Oil imports.
As you know, in Europe, agriculture is protected from foreign markets.
But in the case of Tunisia, it is crucial to support their olive industry.
As I said before, it is the second largest industry in the country after tourism.
But hold on for a moment!
Because as you can imagine, this didn’t make European farmers happy… especially
the Italian ones.
“Let´s save our quality: SAY NO TO TUNISIAN OIL!”
Well… this is especially funny given that most of the “made in Italy” oil is actually
produced in Tunisia and then, labelled in Italy.
And this is where the political battle starts in Europe.
On one hand, it is crucial to help the Tunisian economy so they can keep their democracy.
On the other hand, a lot of European companies are not willing to lose their privileges.
So the question is: Do you think Europe should open its market to Tunisia so they can protect
their liberal system from social unrest?
Do you think Tunisia could become a model for their neighbouring countries?
You can leave your answers in the comments below.
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