In 2011, an authoritarian, repressive government collapsed, because it proved its inability to meet the demands of the people. Will its return solve anything?
This is how the British Guardian newspaper (The Guardian) began its editorial on what it described as Tunisia’s coup, noting that in 2011 it was the first Arab country to overthrow its dictatorship, and the only one in which a true democracy remained.
The Guardian believes that the events in the capital indicate that the country is witnessing a counter-revolution, as President Kais Saied dismissed the country’s prime minister, sacked the government, froze parliament, and suspended the parliamentary immunity of MPs, in a warning directed to political opponents.
The newspaper considered the security forces' storming of television stations not a good sign at all, and that what was the warmth of the Arab Spring certainly turned into the cold of winter.
And she considered the description of the opposition - which is mainly represented by the Ennahda party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament - the president's actions as a "coup" as a description difficult to disagree with.
However, the paper added, many in Tunisia either do not care or - worse - are attracted to demagogues, religious hardliners and those who praise the country's former dictatorship.
What Tunisia needs is for politicians to adopt a more realistic view of where the country should go, because a return to authoritarianism will not guarantee the stability of the regime.
The newspaper pointed out that the reason for accepting sectors of the population is indifference or illiberal concepts that freedom and democracy in Tunisia did not achieve political stability and a prosperous economy, and instead continued corruption, inflation and unemployment, and that the pandemic also revealed the extent of the imbalance that the state had reached. .
What Tunisia needs is for politicians to adopt a more realistic view of where the country should go, because a return to authoritarianism will not guarantee the stability of the regime, the Guardian said.
She added that President Saeed defied the constitution by suspending parliament, and that his inability to work with a prime minister he chose indicates that he is not suitable for a complex system of government, and that his praise of the military dictatorship in Egypt does little to inspire confidence.
The Guardian concluded its editorial that there is a crisis in Tunisia, and that it will be defused by seeing the state of emergency for what it is and addressing its causes, not by insisting on anti-democratic arguments that have passed their expiration date.