Coalition must decide on Tunisia

Jawhar Ben Mubarak Tunis - Nabil Zaghdoud Tunisian constitutional law professor and chairman of the Dostoruna (Our Constitution) network, Jawhar Ben Mubarak, has urged the partners of the ruling coalition in Tunisia to agree a "road map" that is based on regaining the main role of the National Constituent Assembly in the political process in the country, so the assembly can undertake a serious observation on the government's performance. Ben Mubarak, in an interview with Arabstoday, said that the constituent assembly has become a minor institution with no role to play in the country, as the assembly "handed all the powers to the government". He criticised the assembly's internal system which states that the assembly should hold a monthly hearing session of the cabinet, and believes the recent dynamic situation in the country requires weekly accountability sessions with the government in order to keep pace with political and social developments. Mubarak also stressed the need to agree a national relief plan for economic, social and security issues. "This plan should be a road map that is decided upon with participation from all the Tunisian parties, whether they are represented in the assembly or not. The plan will compensate the government's lack of a certain vision about the transitional period. I assert this suggestion is not part of a political debate, it is just based on the worries about the dangers that threaten the democratic transition in the country, especially as the transitional period lacks a fixed time schedule, which gives an opportunity for extremist religious movements to strengthen their existence in the country, which may push Tunisian society into a violent conflict, similar to what happened in Algeria in the nineties," said Mubarak. The constitutional law professor stressed he isn't questioning the legitimacy of the ruling coalition government, but, he said: "the relatively weak participation in the elections doesn't give the government enough ability to take control of things, in addition to the lack of experience by some cabinet figures. The government needs to be bolstered by experienced and qualified personnel." The Tunisian professor urged the ruling coalition to send messages of confidence to the Tunisian people, to reassure them that the coalition is determined to cut any ties with the past and to commit to the path of the revolution, particularly concerning sharing wealth, fighting corruption and working towards a less centralised administrative system. Ben Mubarak stressed that working on these issues depends on serious will rather than financial abilities. Ben Mubarak said he is was not worried about the continuous political debate in the country following the revolution. a debate which he said "is a normal feature of democratic countries." "We have to accept the diversity within Tunisian society rather than insisting on the concept of what we call a 'blind national unity' which doesn't recognise any differences between people. Denying diversity will pave the way towards dictatorship, as tyranny is always based around embracing everyone under one party and one being.  However, managing social and political diversity on a democratic basis is the main challenge we are facing now." Meanwhile, Ben Mubarak, expressed his concerns about the spread of violence in Tunisia, explaining that this was a normal outcome due to the lack of infrastructure to manage the differences and debates between the diverse political and social fabric of the country, blaming the ruling coalition for this deficit adding that they "pushed for a political conflict about power before ensuring the legislative background to manage this conflict". He singled out the Salafist movement, as posing one of the main threats to the democratic transition in the country, criticising the comments of Ennahda Party leader Sheikh Rached al-Ghanoushi, in which he called for dialogue with the Salafist movement as they have a "cultural project that deserves to be discussed". "This movement doesn't believe in democracy, and it can push the country towards an internal and violent conflict, as they enjoy massive human and financial resources," said the Tunisian professor. The chairman of the Dostoruna network ended this interview saying: "The main guarantee for democracy is to ensure rights for all citizens, and these rights must be protected from the violations of any ruling power. If all the citizens are assured about their rights tyranny, can not prevail again." Dostoruna network is a non-governmental organisation which was founded in Tunisia after the revolution. Its main activity is to help the citizens form social groups that work collectively to push for certain political and social goals.