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Tunisia Was the Only Success Story of the Arab Spring. Now Its Democracy Is In Jeopardy

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Tunisia Was the Only Success Story of the Arab Spring. Now Its Democracy Is In Jeopardy


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BY IAN BREMMER

AUGUST 12, 2021 5:29 AM EDT
Bremmer is a foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large at TIME. He is the president of Eurasia Group, a political-risk consultancy, and GZERO Media, a company dedicated to providing intelligent and engaging coverage of international affairs. He teaches applied geopolitics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and his most recent book is Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism.

Tunisia has carried an especially heavy burden over the past decade. It was the first country to cast out a longtime dictator as part of the Arab Spring revolts. And it’s the only one where democracy established a lasting foothold.
But all that is now in jeopardy because political pluralism has unleashed new waves of corruption, and political instability has destabilized a once strong economy. Now comes a constitutional crisis, as a president who claims to act on behalf of Tunisia’s people has grabbed power.

Over the past decade, living standards in Tunisia have fallen; a fragmented political class has prevented the country from developing any sense of direction. A series of coalition governments have come and gone in quick succession, new crooks have staked claims to pieces of the country’s wealth, and public frustration with corruption has only increased. Tunisia’s economy has grown by an average of just 1.8% per year since the Arab Spring to 2019. Terrorist attacks that targeted tourists, a vital source of economic growth, and then the pandemic, which dropped the GDP by 8.8% in 2020, have made matters much worse. Only about 12% of Tunisia’s 12 million people have been fully vaccinated, and there has been a recent surge of Tunisians immigrating to Italy.

In 2019, fed-up Tunisians elected as President a little-known political outsider named Kais Saied. Two weeks ago, Saied, a former professor of constitutional law who had clearly decided he’d seen enough of Tunisia’s political mess, fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament for 30 days. He also announced his own war on corruption after granting himself the powers of the state prosecutor.

Opposition leaders have denounced these moves as a coup, and demonstrators on both sides of the issue have taken to the street. Saied is not exactly charismatic–he’s known jokingly as Robocop because he speaks in a soporific monotone. Yet a recent local poll found that 84% of Tunisians surveyed approved of Saied’s power grab.

It is just the latest example of a transition to democracy that creates enough chaos to build public support for a strongman. In neighboring Egypt, Hosni Mubarak was shoved aside in 2011 in favor of elections that briefly brought to power the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi in 2012. But Morsi was toppled by a military coup after just one year in power. Further afield, many of the Russians who cheered Boris Yeltsin’s bid to create an independent Russia found that democracy was not what they had hoped for. A suddenly unshackled press was free to report on the frightening hyperinflation, unemployment and official corruption that left many Russians eager for a restoration of order. Since Vladimir Putin assumed power two decades ago, Russia has become a democracy in name only. It’s far too early to know if Tunisia is headed in a similar direction.

The more immediate danger for Tunisia is that its democracy and constitution are too untested to provide a clear path forward out of this crisis that the opposition can accept. Saied claims he has a mandate to rule by decree until he appoints a new Prime Minister. The largest opposition group, the moderate religious Ennahda party, claims the number of seats it won in the most recent parliamentary elections gives it the right to choose who will lead the next government. The constitution says this issue must be resolved by a special court, but it doesn’t specify who is allowed to sit on that court.

For now, Kais Saied is in charge. But unless he delivers the sense of security and hope he has promised, the goodwill won’t last.

This appears in the August 23, 2021 issue of TIME.

 
Indonesia calls for national dialogue following 'coup' in Tunisia
Official says Jakarta monitoring political developments in Tunis
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News Service14:23 July 27, 2021

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Indonesia on Tuesday called on parties in Tunisia to hold national dialogue after President Kais Saied’s sacked the government and suspended parliament.

"Indonesia hopes that a national dialogue involving all political powers in Tunisia can be carried out immediately to restore democracy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told Anadolu Agency.

Indonesia continues to monitor political developments in Tunisia, he said, adding that all 202 Indonesian citizens in the North African country are reported to be safe.

"Indonesian representatives in Tunisia have reminded the citizens to be careful, and stay away from crowded areas," Faizasyah said.

Political parties in Tunisia have accused the president of staging a coup, but Saied said he acted in accordance with the Constitution.

Dismissed PM Hichem Mechichi has said he would hand his powers to whoever is appointed by the president. In a statement, he said he will not play an obstructive role in complicating the situation in Tunisia.

Tunisia is seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition following the popular Arab Spring uprisings. But it failed in achieving economic and political stability, and the recent spike in coronavirus cases fueled further public frustration.



*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo with Anadolu Agency’s Indonesian language services in Jakarta

 
Succesful? i havent seen a single development in the country except trade with turkey which now tounis imports triple what it did from turkey. The president is doing the right thing
 
Succesful? i havent seen a single development in the country except trade with turkey which now tounis imports triple what it did from turkey. The president is doing the right thing

Successful in term of implementing democracy as the topic is about Arab spring, despite now Tunisia has come down to authoritarian regime again
 
Successful in term of implementing democracy as the topic is about Arab spring, despite now Tunisia has come down to authoritarian regime again
iam sure the reveloutions in the streets tell you the people's choice of expelling the useless goverment they elected before. The president answered the people and responded to prevent a civil war. Egypt's scenario is repeated yet again expelling the MB. Theyre just an incomptent religous cult
 
"He also announced his own war on corruption after granting himself the powers of the state prosecutor."

For sure it's not gonna work but why he didn't do it before as president ...??
 
The Arab Spring was not a real success in any part of the Arab world.. including Tunisia where it has started.. someone ( lead by the US) wanted the MB everywhere.. But happily it did not work out as the West wanted .. The MB would play an Islamist extremist role ( Guided by the same West..) .. So the West can interfere openly in internal affairs of the MENA region with fighting terrorism as the main reason.. it was a colossal effort by the west to make Usrael even more powerful.. which will reflect on its power in the region as well.. But main Arab powers like KSA, Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, Jordan and the whole GCC saw it coming.. and thwarted it.. there was a reason to start it in the weakest Arab country ..namely Tunisia.. hoping it will expand to the hole Arab world easily.. but their only success and to the advantage of the Arab world came only at the elimination of unstable socialist Marxist Arab regimes ..like Qaddafi in Libya.. Saddam in Iraq, Assad in Syria (To some good extent) and Saleh in Yemen.. while the rest of the stable regimes of the Arab world survived it nicely.. and progressed in an astonishing way..

Thanks USA anyway.. eventhough it wasn't the genuine intention..
 
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MB doesn't have brain neither do the axis of Arab dictators in UAE and KSA.

Both these axis have USA as their master.

UAE and KSA are well known for supporting destabilizing elements in Islamic countries such as Kurdish and Bloch separatists in the region. They destabilized Iraq and Syria using the Kurdish factor. This axis also has the western provided financial leverage on countries such as Lebanon hence able to destabilize them financially.

Turkey on the other hand the mentor of MB organization tried to spread influence in Arab countries through MB and armed conflicts which led to destabilizing Syria, Iraq, Libya etc. A NATO member state that destroys middle east without fearing the consequences feeling NATO support against regional countries.

This 2 axis of evil led by west successfully destabilized Muslim world. Only in Syria and Iraq they were countered mostly because of Iranian presence in these countries.

Considering the fact that Iran and Israel are existential threats to each, lines are drawn in the region between the two. If Iran lost Syria then it lost the leverage on Zionists hence there was a collaboration between the 2 afforementioned axis of evil led by west and Israel that Iran was a common threat.

Israeli tactic is obvious, they in order to weaken Iranian led resistance axis always use Shia-Sunni card with the help of western led axis of evil. All the Arab countries in between suufered from this rivalry, Syria having a long history of fighting against Zionist entity was the prime target of west.

Tunisia remained safe since it had no role in this regional rivalry. @313ghazi @Indos
 
Iran the saviour of the middle east
>Comes in
>Forgets its role in the destruction of these nations and the try to benefit of it
>Blames the situation on every single country in the world except them>
>Leaves
 
Iran the saviour of the middle east
>Comes in
>Forgets its role in the destruction of these nations and the try to benefit of it
>Blames the situation on every single country in the world except them>
>Leaves
Who said that we are the saviour of Middle East? No, we are not. We are just resisting against becoming yet an other victim of American plots. Libya and Iran were on the same page, similar targets, with similar political situation. Both faced one sanctions pact, both were targeted by same axis of evil. The ILSA sanction act, Iran and Libya.

Who survived the American plans? Iran, because we never drorpped resistance. We never drorpped our allies,

@Hydration call me survivor of Middle East
 
Who said that we are the saviour of Middle East? No, we are not. We are just resisting against becoming yet an other victim of American plots. Libya and Iran were on the same page, similar targets, with similar political situation. Both faced one sanctions pact, both were targeted by same axis of evil. The ILSA sanction act, Iran and Libya.

Who survived the American plans? Iran, because we never drorpped resistance. We never drorpped our allies,

@Hydration call me survivor of
So everyone in the middle east is an American\Israeli puppet except glorious resistive iran. Correct?
 
So everyone in the middle east is an American\Israeli puppet except glorious resistive iran. Correct?
What is the Definition of nato in your dictionary? And what is its job in Syraq, Ukraine and elsewhere?

Arabs are in bed with Israelis, what is that mean to you?
 
What is the Definition of nato in your dictionary? And what is its job in Syraq, Ukraine and elsewhere?

Arabs are in bed with Israelis, what is that mean to you?
It means that you only have surface knowledge of the geopolitics of the MENA listing everyone under the band of israeli puppet with not even surface knowledge of their geopolitics. Allah created a brain for you to use
 
CIA coup leads to no good ,since a nation's ruling system should be formed by its nature not superimposed by foreign entity.
 
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