It seems that the coup against the constitution, carried out by Tunisian President Kais Saied this week, is a clear attempt to replace the fragile democratic system in Tunisia with the rule of a strongman, as it fulfills the wishes of millions of Tunisians who have been disappointed in their fragile democracy, which the outbreak of the Corona pandemic revealed its impotence.
This is what the Egyptian novelist and academic Ezz El-Din Fischer sees in an article for the American newspaper (Washington Post), he highlighted in the beginning that the experience of Arab countries proved that although the rule of a strong man can achieve a level of stability and progress in the short term, it cannot solve the problem. The country's rooted problems.
He said that despite the reforms that have been achieved in these countries, the violence associated with those reforms has caused a level of tension that threatens their societies.
He explained that autocratic rulers only encourage their crony capitalists, not independent market forces capable of achieving sustainable growth.
And that the dictatorial regimes in the Arab countries deliberately destroy any capital that enjoys independence, unlike the dictatorships in South Korea and Chile, which built market economies because they were allied with the forces controlling it.
The writer pointed out that among the problems of many authoritarian regimes is their dependence on nepotism and fear to control state institutions, and therefore they tend to prioritize loyalty over performance and compliance over critical thinking, and state institutions rob them of their independence and turn them into docile tools in the hands of the ruler.
He said that Kais Saied, a university professor who does not have institutional backing, is a much weaker leader than other dictators in the region, and he might be able to provide some help to the millions of Tunisians suffering from the economic situation if he gets the support of the Tunisian security sector and sufficient foreign support. He can inflame the enthusiasm of Tunisian youth with his anti-Israel rhetoric.
But he can do little about his country's deep-rooted challenges, including the market's lack of independent powers, the absence of rational, independent institutions, the absence of entrepreneurship and innovative thinking, and inclusive political systems.
Ezz El-Din Fischer concluded his article by saying that the aforementioned points are the problems to which the state of fragility and tyranny under which Arab countries suffer, even those that claim to be enlightened contribute to their aggravation.