‘Still far from democracy’
the more i am pleased that tunisian qais said won the recent tunisian presidential elections, the more it saddened me that the ennahda (renaissance) party, the representatives of the muslim brotherhood in tunisia, won the majority of the seats in parliament, although its candidate, abdel fattah moro, lost the last presidential elections. this means that the arabs and muslims are still miles away from true freedom and true democracy.
nevertheless, we will continue to praise tunisia as a different nation not because it is the best, but only because it is the ‘least’ bad compared to the rest of its sisters who are still swimming into the seas of uncertainty and underdevelopment.
there is no doubt that the conservative inclinations of the new president will probably push him to join hands with the brotherhood, and this will not be in the interests of tunisia, its economy and its prosperity, either in the short or long term, especially if a prime minister is chosen from the brotherhood.
the ennahda movement is the remnant of the fragmented old generation of politicians, and winning a majority of seats in parliament means the arab spring spark has been rekindled, the spring that originally dawned in tunisia against this particular class and against everyone representing dictatorship.
unlike the comfortable economic, social and political situation in the majority of the gulf states, we see only darkness, despair, and helplessness, with a slight degree of difference between these countries.
in the midst of this sad and almost hopeless situation, as the events in lebanon and iraq illustrate, the candle of tunisia can be extinguished at any moment because tunisia is caught up on the web.
will the light of this tunisian candle reach countries such as lebanon, syria, iraq, and others or will tunisia cease to be an oasis of freedom while its neighbors bask in the opposite.
we also hope that president said will abandon some of his conservative views and forget his extreme political electoral statements regarding tunisia’s foreign positions and his positions on the middle east issues that may have been necessitated by his campaigning manifesto.
he should also forget the abuse to his reputation, and accede the rumors of being subject to temptations during his humble election campaign, this will not be in his interest.
