On the 10th anniversary of the revolution Marzouki warns of return of dictatorship

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has warned against the return of dictatorship in the country while criticising the dispersal of democratic forces and the rise of voices calling for the return of individual rule.

Marzouki posted an article he wrote on his Facebook page, entitled On the tenth anniversary of the collapse of the dictatorship, in which he expressed: “They keep talking nostalgically about security and safety during the era of the dictator who fled, boosted with a sense of responsibility, and escaped while feeling ultimate courage. It is their safety and security that they are talking about, not the safety and security of the millions of Tunisians who lived in fear of state terrorism, not to mention the grievances of tens of thousands in prison and exile, and those who died under torture.”

He added: “By means of the democracy they have always fought, they plan to seize power, restore individual rule and the hegemony of state apparatuses, and take revenge on those who offered them out of an unparalleled love of the homeland, the amnesty of transitional justice and an unadulterated national reconciliation, but they rejected it with rudeness, arrogance, and egotism. The biggest crime that the revolutionary forces might commit is to pave the way for them to succeed in their endeavour by deepening the ongoing state of fragmentation, struggles, and lack of attention to all the alarms, or allow, God forbid, that the martyrdom of Tunisian citizens and the suffering of the wounded be in vain.”

OPINION: Ten years after the revolution, Tunisia’s president is polarising the country

Tunisia is currently celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Tunisian revolution that led to the fall of the regime of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his escape from the country on 14 January 2011.

Several days ago, Marzouki visited the grave of Mohamed Bouazizi, a prominent figure of the revolution, where he indicated that the revolution had achieved only half of its goals – freedom, and dignity.