Tunis, June 12, 2013 – More than two years after Tunisians ousted their last dictator, the revolution is being derailed by an accelerating economic crisis, according to an audience at the latest New Arab Debate.
The session, marked by fierce arguments and accusations, came after dire warnings from the country’s president Moncef Marzouki, who declared recently that unless two million people were taken out of poverty, the revolution would fail.
Following his lead, 76 percent of the participants voted for the motion: “Tunisia’s economy is sinking the revolution” – although nine percent changed their mind during the debate and voted against.
Speaking for the motion, Kabil Daoud, member of the centre-right Al Jomhouri party’s political bureau, said that despite the revolution, injustice was still widespread, poverty had increased and corruption was skyrocketing.
“So all those elements today are a big problem for the economy,” he added. “People do not have hope of a better life. Without hope of a better life, there is no revolution.”
As if to echo the sentiment, the audience voted by a narrow margin in a show of hands that prosperity was more important than freedom.
One participant said a friend had told her: “I am really missing the dictatorship days. We were living in a more secure place and we were able to live with a small amount of money.”
Speaking against the motion, Tarek Kahlaoui, a senior member of the Congress for the Republic Party, one of three groups in the governing coalition, acknowledged the economic difficulties but insisted the country was on the right track.
In one of his many clashes with Kabil Daoud, he added: “The economic problems are the structural problems of the (old) dictatorship – and you need democracy to solve them.”
The New Arab Debates are a free speech forum, funded by the British Foreign Office and the Swedish International Development Agency. They were set up in the wake of the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia to encourage participation in political discussion.
For the second year running they are being transmitted on the Deutsche Welle network, along with its partner stations around the world.