Rice and the hope of reform in Tunisia – Slim Boukhdir
Published on 10 September 2008 on the Egyptian daily Al-Mesryoon’s website
The statements that US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice made during her visit to Tunisia
were quoted in full by international news agencies such as Reuters and Agence France-Presse but
the government news agency tried to ignore her most important comments, including her call for
an increase in the pace of democratic reforms likely to guarantee Tunisian society’s rights and
freedoms.
The government and its news agency forgot that the Tunisian media do not have a monopoly of
news and information. Tunisians have for long time been watching satellite TV stations that
broadcast full reports often based on the dispatches put out by the leading international news
agencies. They also have access to the Internet, whose sites are packed with the latest news. That
is why all the satellite stations such as Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurra and all the other
Arab and international stations did not censor Rice’s remarks.
As Tunisians are more eager than any of the region’s other citizens for some hope of being able
to rid themselves of the despotism that threatens their rights and of being allowed to enjoy a
democratic system, they were favourably impressed by Rice’s comments about the need to
introduce reforms in Tunisia. They end up believing in the possibility of seeing this desire
realised because the American demands are precise and detailed.
Rice said she had asked the Tunisian president to allow the press to be free and to give the
opposition space to express themselves in the government media. In fact, the US authorities sent
a very clear message to their Tunisian counterparts. US-Tunisian friendship must not be limited
to governmental spheres. US officials also want the friendship of the Tunisian people. That is
why they have urged their Tunisian counterparts to embark on the road of reforms.
The Tunisian government is now completely isolated after imposing its will on its civil society
and intellectuals. Rice’s comments reflect the US government’s concern at the possibility of
seeing all democratic prospects fade away in Tunisia because of the deterioration in the country’s
human rights situation.
The other Maghreb counties, especially Algeria and Morocco, have been hailed because of the
political reforms carried by the governments of King Mohammed and President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika. The contrast completes Tunisia’s regional isolation. Its neighbours have preferred to
expand political participation and diversity without letting this prevent them from pursuing their
efforts to combat terrorism.
The Tunisian government uses the terrorist threat as a pretext for crushing any attempt to
democratise society although it is not a danger in Tunisia. But it has not exempted our
neighbours from the international demands for political reforms.
I remain convinced that democracy is the most effective mechanism for dissipating any rigid
political phenomenon and the most fertile ground for positive dialogue and communication to
develop in such a way as to ensure peaceful civic coexistence between different political
communities.
It goes without saying that this latest US request offers the Tunisian government a new
opportunity to try to improve its image by loosening its grip on civil society. But I fear that the
government will let slip this opportunity, as it has so often in the past, and that it will insist on
maintaining its monopoly of public expression and ignore the US appeals. That will just
accentuate its internal isolation and bolster its external critics. Nonetheless, it is the most likely
scenario.