by FRANCESCA BELLINO
The revolutionary atmosphere is everywhere in Tunisia. According to some, the real revolution has only just begun, and in the widespread chaos, there are many who have clear ideas both about the future and about Tunisia’s identity. It is sufficient to glance at Facebook, where on many ‘walls’ one can read messages such as: “We are Muslims not Islamists.” “We are moderates and not extremists.” “We dream of democracy.”
One year ago on January 14th Tunisia celebrated the flight of dictator Ben Alì and started to dream of a dignified, democratic future. But nowadays concerns over the economy, as well as other doubts, have largely replaced that joy and enthusiasm. The Islamic Ennahda Party won the Constituent Assembly elections held October 23rd with a margin of almost 40% (89 seats out of 217). Even more shocking was the arrival of the Salafites on the public stage who, unlike Ennahda, do not accept democratic dialogue but rather intend to destroy it and impose Shari’a Law. “The Salafite approach is totally alien to Tunisian culture,” explains Mourad Ben Cheikh, director of the film No More Fear, a documentary on the Tunisian revolution screened also at the Cannes Film Festival. “It is not normal for us to increasingly see veiled women in the streets and even female students demanding to sit their university exams wearing the niqab, or seeing attacks on groups of musicians as happened to the “Sons of the Mines” in Meknesi when they were prevented from performing due to their left-wing political views. It is probable that someone outside Tunisia is moving a group of people like puppets, with very specific plans.”
The danger of a partial Islamization of Tunisian society and the concentration of power in the hands of one single party, Ennahda, elicit new fears for Tunisia one year after their liberation. Matters are complicated further by more practical problems: the now blatant crisis in the tourism sector, previously one of the country’s driving forces, as well as the risk of industrial desertification. The recent shutting down of the Japanese Yazaki plant, which produced cables in Om Laarayès in the Gafsa mining district, aggravated this concern. “The decision was made following illegal and unannounced strikes by employees on December 15th and 16th that damaged clients, according to Yazaki, a world leader in this sector,” said Tarek Chaabouni, a politician on the democratic left (Attajdid, the former Tunisian Communist Party). “The problem was debated at the 22nd congress of the Union of Workers, or UGTT, held at the end of the year in Tabarka, when the new secretary, Housseine Abasi, was elected. There has been a renewal within the Union, a necessary one, but the problems remain. Of the three thousand foreign companies present in the country, about 120 have already left, according to the Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (UTICA). Simultaneously, however, exports have risen slightly in the electromechanical, manufacturing, textile, leather and shoe industries. There is still a great deal of discontent, especially among the young, who have no jobs. Unemployment, unfortunately, is rising. In September 2011 it was 18%, with 700,000 people unemployed.”
Reset Doc for more