Francis Ghilès

The Tunisian paradox

Is suspending politics the best way to save democracy?

Pro-democracy protestors during the Jasmine revolution in 2011 (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

‘We swore to defend the constitution,’ shouted the deputy speaker of the Tunisian parliament, to which a young soldier retorted, ‘We swore to defend the fatherland’.

This exchange in front of the locked gates of parliament last month sums up the paradox of Tunisia. President Kais Saied’s decision a few hours earlier to dismiss his government and suspend parliament had enraged the Islamist speaker and his deputy, who sought to enter the building now guarded by armed troops.

Yet tens of thousands from every social class poured into the streets of Tunisian towns and villages, shouting their support for Saied. That support has remained rock solid over a month later, despite the condemnation of what many western commentators called a coup against democracy.

Democracy has taken the form of a souk, a clearing house for deals between different economic and political lobbies

Diplomats in Tunis were mostly caught unaware, having seriously underestimated the tactical skills of the dour, socially conservative law professor. Saied has few advisers and speaks only to condemn, in the most vigorous terms, the gangrenous corruption that is destroying his once prosperous North African country. Tunisia was the first Middle Eastern country to topple its dictator a decade ago, the spark that lit the conflagration of revolts that engulfed the Arab world.

Despite the shock of western observers, few in the country itself were surprised by the president’s decision. Financial indicators have been flashing red for years and Tunisia will go bankrupt this autumn if it fails to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund. Playing cat and mouse with Tunisia’s foreign creditors was the hallmark of the now-dismissed prime minister, a modern version of fiddling while Rome — or in this case Carthage — burns. Democracy has taken the form of a souk, a clearing house for deals between different economic and political lobbies, not to mention the mafias whose power has grown beyond that of the country’s sickly institutions.

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