January 15, 2013
Two significant things happened in Tunisia Monday that capture
the overall political condition of the country -- and perhaps the wider Arab
region -- on the second anniversary of the overthrow of the former regime
headed by President Zein el-Abidine Ben Ali. During commemorations of the
January 14, 2011 overthrow of the regime, national leaders signed an important
“social pact” during a National Constituent Assembly session in Tunis. But in
provincial Sidi Bouzid, where the revolt against the former regime started
after Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire and ultimately died in December
2010, disappointed crowds threw rocks and tomatoes at the president and
parliamentary speaker who had come to address them.
These two symbolic developments aptly capture this moment, when
several Arab countries are struggling to institutionalize the gains of their
revolutions by achieving two things simultaneously: create new political orders
that are legitimate, pluralistic, and accountable; and, address the hard
problems in social and economic disparities that plague tens of millions of
Arab men and women across the region. Those twin challenges today accurately
reflect the two grievances that ultimately ended Mohammad Bouazizi’s life: the
citizen’s inability to enjoy the basic material needs of life (income, food,
housing, health care, education) and the parallel lack of political rights.
By coincidence I have been in North Africa, albeit at the
western side of it, attending a conference in Rabat, Morocco, during this commemorative
weekend. It has been instructive to witness the different approaches to
political change in Morocco and Tunisia, whose people share many underlying
socio-economic and political challenges, but have taken different routes to
political evolution. The Moroccan approach of top-down changes initiated by the
king has opened up the political system to some extent and allowed centrist
Islamists to share in the ruling government coalition -- though many Moroccans
feel the changes are superficial and the political order is managed by the same
powers close to the monarchy that have ruled for decades. Others are convinced
that gradual, phased democratization under the king’s aegis is the most
feasible route to lasting change, development and stability. Time will tell
which approach will prevail.
The very different, populist-driven revolution in Tunisia in the
past two years has opened political space for everyone in the country to
compete for a share in power and governance, and to reach consensus on the new constitution
and other historic changes. This same open political and social arena also
allows others to assert their views, including groups of vigilantes in Tunisia
(allegedly linked to the dominant Islamists) who have gone around beating up
other citizens whose views they reject.
This is why I see much significance in the social pact that was
signed this week during the Tunisian National Constituent Assembly by the prime
minister, the secretary general of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), and
the president of the Tunisian Union of Commerce, Industry and Craft. This is
one of the few examples to date of attempts to launch political initiatives
that bridge the twin demands for socio-economic rights and
political-citizenship rights. This is an imperfect mechanism because some labor
unions and political groups were not consulted on the agreement, including
civil society representatives and farmer and consumer associations.
“Social justice” best captures the many dynamics that prompted
the ongoing Arab revolutions, with “social” capturing citizens’ socio-economic
rights, and “justice” capturing their need for political participation and
respect. We will soon learn if the Tunisian social pact offers a political
dynamic that allows the most important elements in society to work together for
the changes they seek, especially in the critical socio-economic fields.
The pact comprises five sections that deal with economic growth
and regional development, employment and vocational training programs, working
conditions, social insurance, and the institutionalization of the social
tripartite dialog. The dialog envisages creating a “national discussion board”
with representatives of the three signatories, as a mechanism for political
dialog on issues that will persist for years, especially economic progress.
This is one of the new concrete developments in the past two
years that sees the broad demands for social justice being institutionalized in
a political mechanism that includes important players in the country. The
urgency of such moves was dramatized Monday by the protestors in Sidi Bouzid
who threw rocks and tomatoes at Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki and
Parliament Speaker Mustafa Ben Jaafar, mainly to express widespread citizen
frustration in marginalized rural areas at the revolution’s failure to bring
material benefits. Some in the crowd shouted “the people want the fall of the
government,” or greeted the president with shouts of “Get out! Get out!” (irhal,
irhal, in Arabic), the rallying cry of the revolution that toppled Ben Ali.
Some things have changed dramatically in the past two years, but
others have not -- most importantly, the underlying revolutionary drivers of
socio-economic disparity and politically frustrated citizens.
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star,
and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International
Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. You can
follow him @ramikhouri.
Copyright © 2013 Rami G. Khouri -- distributed by Agence Global