Jasmin Revolution & Power Vacuum in Tunisia

Dr. Abdul Ruff

Colonialism and imperialism have not yet died down in the world. Notwithstanding bogus rhetoric  on democracy by the USA, much of world has remained terrocrcies. This policy suits the West for promoting their long-term geopolitical interests. That Africa is infested with corrupt tyranies, promoted by the the former colonizers from Europe and USA,  is now does not require any authentication in any manner. Even though the colonial masters have departed, their legacy, policies and clout remain in some form still remains a reality in much of the Arab and Muslim world. The so-called democracies of the west- in reality they are terrocracies- do not find anything wrong because these nations  provide all raw materials and space for military terror bases to the western bosses.

The fall of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has sent shockwaves throughout Africa and the Arab world. There were some self-immolations in Algeria, Egypt and Mauritania that sparked the Tunisian protests. Demonstrators have been protesting again today, demanding that the Ben Ali and Ghannouchi's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, give up all power. Protesters in Tunis demand new cabinet be purged of old guard who served under Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. People are on the streets. The former president's family is said to have made off with a certain amount of gold. Considering the economic failures in the country this is interesting! 

Days after Ben Ali fled for Saudi Arabia in fear for his life, the Tunisian regime he left behind remains paralyzed and efforts to forge a “national unity” government have been stymied by mass opposition in the streets. The popular hostility to the new government was immediate and intense, given that it failed to change either the prime minister or those in charge of all the other key posts, including the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, interior and finance. Public has  defied  a ban on public assemblies and security forces who lined the route and fired tear gas at the protest. The demonstrators chanted they want a new parliament, a new constitution, a new republic as they marched toward the center of Tunis.

Mohamed Ghannouchi, the prime minister, has formed a new government, which includes opposition figures but keeps several figures from the old regime in important positions. Ghannouchi defended the inclusion of figures from the former regime in the cabinet, saying their expertise was crucial. After only one day in existence the temporary government, designed to prepare for full democratic elections, the caretaker prime minister is battling to convince the nation that the interim government could lead the transition to democracy, after four opposition members quit in protest. Ghannouchi said his administration was committed to releasing all political prisoners, and that anyone with great wealth or suspected of corruption would face investigation. In a hollow attempt to dissipate mass opposition, Ghannouchi and the interim president, Mebazaa, announced that they were quitting Ben Ali’s RCD party, which has ruled the country for decades. Such a gesture does not have any effect on the angry mass protests.

Since president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday, France has attempted to distance itself from the former leader, refusing him exile and ordering a block on his family's property and money held in France. The French foreign minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, today defended her controversial offer to help Tunisia's deposed president restore order days before he was ousted. The cabinet minister had offered to share the expertise of French security forces "recognised throughout the world" to help control the uprising. She said her offer had been "misrepresented" and had been aimed at helping the Tunisian people, not propping up repression. She added that she was "scandalised" by how her comments had been distorted. Earlier, it had appeared that Alliot-Marie was being isolated by the Élysée Palace after an adviser of the president, Jew N Sarkozy, suggested she was expressing "her own analysis of the situation".

Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa. Tunisia was occupied by Vandals during the 5th century AD, Byzantines in the 6th century, and Arabs in the 8th century. Under the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia was known as "Regency of Tunis". After obtaining independence in 1956 the country took the official name of the "Kingdom of Tunisia" at the end of the reign of Lamine Bey and the Husainid Dynasty. With the proclamation of the Tunisian republic on July 25, 1957, the nationalist leader Habib Bourguiba became its first president and led the modernization of the country.

The country nominally operated as a republic under the authoritarian regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who governed from 1987 to 2011 before fleeing following wide-ranging protests, nicknamed the Jasmine Revolution after the national flower name. Tunisia, an export-oriented country in the process of liberalizing and privatizing an economy that has averaged 5% GDP growth since the early 1990s, had suffered corruption benefiting the former president's family.

Tunisia flourished under Arab rule. Extensive irrigation installations were constructed to supply towns with water and promote agriculture (especially olive production).This prosperity permitted luxurious court life and was marked by the construction of new Palace cities such as al-Abassiya (809) and Raqadda (877).

Tunisia is a constitutional republic, with a president serving as chief of state, prime minister as head of government, a bicameral legislature and a court system influenced by French civil law. President Ben Ali, previously Habib Bourguiba's minister and a military figure, has been in office since 1987, the year he acceded to the executive office of Habib Bourguiba after a team of medical experts judged Bourguiba unfit to exercise the functions of the office in accordance with Article 57 of the Tunisian constitution The anniversary of Ben Ali’s succession, November 7, is celebrated as a national holiday. Ben Ali has been re-elected with enormous majorities every election, the last time being October 25, 2009.

On October 25, 2009, national elections to elect the president and parliament were held in Tunisia in what was described by a Human Rights Watch report as "an atmosphere of repression". No independent observer was allowed to monitor the vote. Zinedine Ben Ali, won a landslide victory, with 89.62%. His opponent, Mohamed Bouchiha, received 5.01%. The candidate who was most critical of the regime, Ahmed Ibrahim, of the Ettajdid party, received only 1.57% after a campaign in which he was not allowed to put posters up or hold any kind of meeting. The president's party, the CDR, also got the majority of votes for the parliamentary election, 84.59%. The Movement of Socialist Democrats party received 4.63%. Human Rights Watch has reported that parties and candidates were denied exposure equal to the sitting president. Absence of independence of the Tunisian legal system equals similar situations world wide.

Tunisia was in 2009 ranked the most competitive economy in Africa and the 40th in the world by the World Economic Forum. Tunisia has a diverse economy, ranging from agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and petroleum products, to tourism. In 2008 it had a GDP of $41 billion (official exchange rates), or $82 billion (purchasing power parity). It also has one of Africa and the Middle East's highest per-capita GDPs (PPP) The European Union remains Tunisia's first trading partner, currently accounting for 72.5% of Tunisian imports and 75% of Tunisian exports.

Tunisia has close relations with both the European Union — with whom it has an association agreement — and the Arab world. Tunisia is also a member of the Arab League and the African Union. Tunisia has built favorable relations with the European Union, and with France in particular, through economic cooperation, industry modernization, and privatisation programs. The government's approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict has also made it an important intermediary in Middle Eastern diplomacy.

Growing unease over the unfolding revolutionary events in Tunisia were expressed in the US, Europe and throughout the Arab world.The non-committal character of the ambassador’s remarks reflect Washington’s uncertainty over whether it can salvage the remnants of a regime that it had backed virtually until the moment Ben Ali boarded his plane for Saudi Arabia. In Europe, meanwhile, the head of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats at the European Parliament announced on Tuesday that Ben Ali’s RCD party had been expelled from the Socialist International.

American terrocracy cannot always guarantee the corrupt, intolerant,  inefficient governments in Islamic world and the Muslim rulers must stop terrorizing people. Brutality is same whether  it is unleashed on population by a terrocracy or democracy or a Muslim nation. USA watches all shows patiently and  supports tyrannies around the world so long as they promote US interests in and around the nation. A civil war in Algeria,where the duly elected Islamists were  not allowed to form government and in stead they were thrown into darkness of jails,  has killed more than 150,000 people. All this was, of course, done with the active support and cooperation of the democratic West. USA has made opposition in several countries insignificant and  meaningless.

Tunisia's Jasmin revolution seems to have changed the concept of democracy  and world view on governance.  Totally unarmed protesters fearlessly facing down the dictator's big guns drove out the tyrant who suppressed their rights for a quarter century. Unprecedented popular protests marked a clear change in the political map of Tunisia.

Unfortunately, there is a wrong notion among the illiterate Muslim rulers today that Islam is devoid of democracy or Western brand corruption is the basis of any contemporary government. World is yet to realize that full implementation of Islamic law would give rise to real democratic values. Will Islamic world come to senses?

The phenomena like dispensation misrule,  authoritarian reign, total lack of human rights, corruption, nepotism, police brutality, military terror and crimes are anti-Islamic.Tunisia serves as a strong warning to the Muslim governments in the world about their Islamic attitude to Muslims and anti-Islamic polices both at home and abroad. They are at times in many ways worse rulers than the non-Islamic counterparts which is sad commentary on Islamic world. They are so totally incapable of any social or political progress.Most of the  rulers hide their failures  by employing the terrorism gimmicks. Ben Ali was calling Tunisian protesters "terrorists" before he ran away with a view to gaining sympathy and support  from the West to ruthlessly suppress the agitators, but failed. In fact, in the name of secularism and fighting "Islamic terrorism," the regime crushed every voice of dissent and independence.

The Muslim rulers must shed hypocrisy and arrogance and learn from the Tunisian struggle. Islamic world needs not to learn anything from the essentially anti-Islamic West, but it must go strictly according to Shari'a. That is enough!