Tunisian democracy must survive!

The following is a statement published by the International working group on Tunisia.

On this 11th anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution, we must hear the cry of an entire people,

For Tunisian democracy to survive!

The country of the Arab Spring is going through one of the worst trials in its history. Paradoxically, it is from the heart of power that a challenge to democracy is triggered, leading to its abolition. In 2019, Kais Saied, the current head of state, was comfortably elected, thanks to his promises to reform a country that is free but facing a deep social crisis, widespread corruption and institutional disorder. The people expressed themselves at the ballot box, but in an economic and social situation that had become unbearable for the majority.

On July 25, 2021, the President interpreted an article of the Constitution in his own way and froze the Constitution, suspended Parliament and established a personal autocracy. By virtue of presidential decrees, in the shadow of a loyalist army, Kais Saied redrew the political landscape to give himself an almost imperial status. In a few weeks, he himself became the State and openly intended to be recognised as such, in Tunisia and abroad.

However, he has shown great hesitation and clumsy amateurism in the economic and social management of the country, leading to a popular disaffection marking bitter disappointment and a sceptical, even hostile international wait-and-see attitude.

This situation has led Tunisian democratic forces to mobilise in order to counter the despotic inclinations of a single man in control and who uses the repressive means of the State more and more brutally in order to impose his vision and be obeyed. He is using the military tribunals at an unprecedented rate, to apply tailor-made justice.

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Tunisians are returning to hunger strikes as a means of peaceful political and social struggle. It could not be otherwise, in the face of the return of military vehicles blocking access to parliament and preventing elected officials from sitting. Civic liberties, hard won by the Revolution, are diminished.

Arbitrary arrests, house arrests and travel bans are deteriorating an already deeply altered political climate. Former President Moncef Marzouki was sentenced to 4 years in prison for simply taking political stances. The first death at the hands of the police was reported on 8 November, 2021 and another on 19 January, 2022, as a result of injuries sustained during the repression of demonstrations on the anniversary of the Revolution on 14 January, 2022. An MP and former Justice Minister is currently in critical condition, following an unnecessarily brutal arrest followed by being kept in detention, incommunicado, in a ghost villa in the north of the country. A devious fear is spreading in the country recalling the dark eras of the reign of dictator, Ben Ali.

Powerless in the face of the difficulties and expectations of Tunisians, and isolated internationally, the President continues a headlong rush, fraught with threats to a society now split into pro and anti-Saied.

The thirst for power is leading Kais Saied to openly evoke his intention to cancel what remains of the democratic institutions established by the 2014 Constituent Assembly. He is waiting, in the short term, for the right moment to repeal the Constitution, dissolve the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) and take control of the judiciary by subjugating the Supreme Judiciary Council.

Read: Tunisia extends state of emergency until end of 2022 

Refusing any dialogue except with itself, this absolute power seems to lead its holder into a spiral that is manifestly dangerous for the present and the future of Tunisia. This is why we, Tunisians and citizens of the world, united with one voice:

1. Proclaim our unwavering support for democracy and its institutions born of the 14 January, 2011 Tunisian Revolution;
2. Understand and support the profound aspirations of Tunisian men and women for better living conditions;
3. Call on the societies of democratic countries to stand alongside Tunisian men and women in this great ordeal;
4. Call for an immediate return to the democratic functioning of Tunisia;
5. Urge Tunisian men and women not to barter the hard won freedom for obscure promises;
6. Urge international civil society to mobilise against the plans of the current power, by promoting a rapid return to democratic institutions and popular suffrage;
7. Recognise the positions taken around the world which, faithful to the common democratic ideal, refuse to condone the coup d’état of Kais Saied.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.