Mohammad Pervez Bilgrami

When Mohamed Bouazizi immolated himself in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, the event ignited what is today called the “Arab Spring”, an uprising against despots and dictators of the Arab world.

Tunisians rallied in huge numbers to oust Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January 2011.

Tunisia brought down its decades-old dictatorship rather peacefully when one looks at how violently other entrenched regimes have responded to protests. In Syria, Bashar Al Assad has shown that he is prepared to destroy the entire country to perpetuate his family dictatorship.

After the overthrow of Ben Ali’s regime, Tunisia managed to conduct its first free and fair parliamentary elections where the previously banned Ennahda Party, whose leaders were persecuted by the dictator, won 37 percent of the popular votes and 89 out of the total 217 assembly seats. Ennahda formed a coalition government with other parties.

Tunisia’s revolution and democratic transition were hailed around the world. But then undemocratic forces played their dirty tricks. Two prime ministers from Ennahda, Hamadi Jebali and Ali Larayedh, were forced to resign after protests against the murder of two politicians from the secularists block.
The July 3, 2013 coup in Egypt, financed by the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which ousted country’s first democratically-elected president Mohamad Morsi has had a negative effect on the nascent Tunisian democracy.

It is worth mentioning here that Tunisia was the only Arab country overtly condemned the July 3, 2013 military coup in Egypt."Military intervention is totally unacceptable and we call on Egypt to ensure that Morsi is physically protected," said Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki. Tunisia's then ruling Ennahda party denounced also what it called a "coup against legitimacy" in Egypt.

The ruling Arab monarchs are so alarmed by notion of representative governments in the region that they are prepared to indulge in any extremism to thwart democracy and subvert institutions. Their allies in this war against democracy are the United States and European expansionists.

After achieving their bloody counterrevolution in Egypt, many expected them to slow down and leave Tunisia alone. But that did not happen and this small country in North Africa is on the way towards a counterrevolution with the full backing from the forces of darkness representing tribalism, global corruption and colonialism.

In the wake of the Arab revolts, Saudi Arabia has emerged as the biggest source of inspiration for dictators and is a prime sponsor of the status-quo in the region using its easy oil money.

Though Tunisia has passed its democratic constitution and thwarted an imminent coup, the opposition-backed prime minister after assuming power, immediately removed the pro-democracy governors and put elements of the old tyrant regime in their places.

Tunisian courts have also started freeing the imprisoned figures associated with Ben Ali’s corruption and tyranny.

The former director of national security Adel Touiri is already free after the charges against him were dropped altogether. Former presidential security chief Ali Seriati and former interior minister Rafik Bel Haj Kalem, accused of cracking down on protesters during the uprising were released by the Tunisian military court on April 13, 2014.

When most of the world is busy discussing the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya, the slow and steady counter revolution is taking place in Tunisia.

It is believed that global powers of corruption and imperialism with the help of their Arab clients are bent on achieving a counterrevolution and bring back slavery to the enlightened Tunisians.

A similar attempt is being made in Libya where CIA-backed renegade general Khalifa Haftar has taken the charge to oust the democratically-elected government in Tripoli. Haftar has already forced Turkish citizens to leave the country and consolidated his position in the East of the country and tried two unsuccessful coups to oust the Libyan government in Tripoli.

These criminals are a threat not only to popular Arab aspirations but also to peace and stability in the region.

Tunisians must give a fitting reply to the region’s subversive regimes and their outside masters. Though presidential elections are slated for this year, it is not clear yet if the beleaguered Ennahda Party will field its candidate for president or whether its leader Rachid Ghannouchi will be a candidate.

One thing must be clear: the determination of Tunisian people is stronger than before to deter any counterrevolution attempt. It works in favour of democracy that Ennahda is ready to work with other parties in charting a new course for the country.

Tunisians simply do not want to go back to the days of tyranny.

@mpervezbilgrami