Tunis, April 16, 2014 – Three years after their revolution an overwhelming majority of Tunisians still endorse freedom as their number one priority, despite youth unemployment at over 40 percent, steep price rises and a lack of foreign investment.
That view emerged strongly during the latest session of the New Arab Debates, where a predominantly young audience rejected arguments that it was time to put the economy first and voted 83 per cent to 17 against the motion: “Prosperity and stability are more important than freedom”.
Speaking for the motion, Selim Moussa, a US-educated financier and co-founder of the Tunisian-American Young Professionals, urged the audience to count the cost of putting freedom first, claiming it had caused more economic hardship in the country.
“Freedom is a tool on the road to prosperity, ” he said. “A tool can never be more important than the goal.”
That sentiment was echoed by an audience member who questioned the value of freedom when people were unemployed and poor. Another disagreed, saying: “You are reducing the whole society to food and shelter… our revolution was for civil and political rights.”
Arguing against the motion, Amna Guellali, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the revolution had brought to the surface economic problems that had been obscured under the previous dictatorship, but claimed the country was now moving in the right direction.
“Money is not everything,” she added. “When people relinquish their freedom for stability they will lose both.”
Several audience members spoke of continuing economic chaos in Tunisia, with one suggesting that the country should “step back” from freedom until order had been re-established.
Ms Guellali firmly rejected that idea. “We will not rebuild our economy if we have no freedom,” she said.
The New Arab Debates, now in their third season, offer an extensive outreach campaign in schools and universities, aimed at encouraging young people to participate in political life. They are funded by the Norwegian and British governments.
The debates will be transmitted for the third successive year on Deutsche Welle TV in English and Arabic along with its global and regional network of partners including Egypt’s ONTV, Ro’ya TV in Jordan, Hanibal in Tunisia, and Watan TV in Ramallah.