Moncef Marzouki, Tunisia’s first president after the 2011 revolution, says he fears what may happen if he goes home. In an interview with Al Jazeera ahead of Tunisia’s parliamentary elections on Saturday, Marzouki said the country’s current leader, Kais Saied, was part of a “counter-revolution” against the 2011 uprising and attempting to return to the pre-revolution political system, starting with the new constitution the president introduced after a July referendum. “Once again, [it is] the rule of one man, all the power gathered by one man,” Marzouki said. “And this is exactly what we didn’t want after the revolution … The will of one man has destroyed Iraq, has destroyed Syria, has destroyed Libya.”
“This guy, he’s coming back to the old political system, and he will face the same problems faced by his predecessors because one man cannot rule a nation.” Saved is a populist figure who was elected as Tunisia’s president in 2019 on a platform that blamed the country’s economic woes on the political elite that had run Tunisia since 2011 – including people like Marzouki. Since then, he has gradually entrenched himself in power. He suspended and dissolved parliament in July 2021 ahead of a new referendum that changed the country’s system from a hybrid parliament to a presidential system. The opposition is seen as the main success story of the Arab Spring. accusing him of returning to a dictatorship…and cracking down on its enemies.
When questioned, Marzouki did not name the local power he was referring to. However, members of the Tunisian opposition have accused the United Arab Emirates in particular of undermining Tunisian democracy. , reiterated their support for the Tunisian government following the parliamentary recess, and broadly supported Said.
Mr. Marzouki said the Tunisian opposition remained deeply divided, failing to organize a united front even during the campaign for a referendum on the constitution earlier this year, and despite low voter turnout in the referendum, Saeed’s allegations continued. He said he could not object to
“I work hard in Tunisia to make sure they sit together, talk to each other and forget ideological differences,” said Marzouki, who founded one of Tunisia’s main left-wing parties. “[But] even Tunisia has not been able to bridge this divide between secularists and Islamists … I think change will come from within society, not from political parties. will join the wave, but probably won’t propel it.” “Looking at the volcano, it’s stable. A. “The pressure is poverty, humiliation, frustration, and anger. And all these ingredients work in a volcano. No one knows exactly how or exactly when a volcano will erupt, but it is certain that it will erupt.
