Congratulations on your brave stand against your dictatorship! You have won! Well - You have defeated the dictator - now you must defeat the dictatorship! Keep up the fight for freedom! RCD members are everywhere, with bloody hands...
Watch out for the government - it is not YOUR government until you elect it. Until then it is only the old regime with a new set of clothes.
Please don’t be fooled into thinking your victory is complete yet. Words mean nothing unless they are followed up by action. The old regime has given 3 token positions. Note carefully that the Defence and Interior Ministries, along with the Prime Minister and President - are all filled by RCD affiliates - and it is they who made that decision, not you.
So the security forces are still notionally under the control of the old regime elements. Even token jobs to people like Slim Amamou - Secretary of State for Youth. Will his patron, the Minister of Youth and Sports Muhammad Aloulou give him a free reign? Or will Slim have handcuffs on him just as if he was still in prison?
It would be safer if the regime elements in the interim government were replaced by some sort of technocrats, in the interest of showing good faith towards the Tunisian people. Other democracies have separation of powers which provide checks and balances to ensure that it is physically impossible for one man to monopolize power - even if he wants to. The army swears allegiance to the people, and democracy, and will refuse an illegal order to seize control on behalf of a politician. These things don’t seem to have happened yet, and may not happen, and you may still find yourself on the wrong end of vengeance. You probably need to keep up the street protests until some more solid security guarantees are in place.
Before, you had a dicatorship of one party, now you have an “interim” unity government. There was no opposition with the dictatorship and there is no opposition with the unity government. Except for Ali and one or two ex-ministers, the faces are the same - only the name has changed - from ‘Ben Ali’s Stoogies’ to ‘Unity Government’. Why do you think there will now be an improvement?
On Saturday, it was said that the unity government will last 6 months until there are free and open elections held. Now, we hear that some of the members in government are saying that 6 months may not be enough time to prepare for elections. What a surprise - the dictatorship is dead - Long live the dictatorship. Even if it were true that more than 6 months were neeed - a technocrat can make this sort of decision just as easily as an RCD member. The RCD do not have magical irreplacable skills - although they are the best ones to run a dictatorship, since most of the elements are still in place. If the technocrat needs advice from an RCD member, I’m sure they can afford a telephone.
Who is the real power broker(s). Is it you the people? You the unemployed?. I don’t think so. Where is your representation in this “Unity” government? Consider the role of the military. Ben Ali fled the country the day after the military withdrew support - did he flee so quickly because he was afraid of some protests or did he flee because someone had a word in his ear? Since then they have taken a careful stance to support the constitution - this is the same constitution that allowed decades of dictatorship - why is it so imperative to follow such a thing? If this “unity of rogues” government turns out to be the same as the Ben Ali Cabal, do you think that the Army will stand by? They may do nothing under the slogan “we don’t interfere with politics”, which would mean that the RCD interior minister gets to decide the future of Tunisia. There is no statement from the Army to say that this won’t happen. No explanation from the Army that there isn’t just one RCD-affiliated guy calling the shots.
Also, what is the role of the other Arab states in this? Do you really believe that they will stand idly while an Arab country in their midst gives full and free democracy to its people? What effect would a free and proud Tunisia have on Mubarak’s Egypt, or Gadaffi’s Lybia, or ... You can be sure that compromises will be made behind closed doors, just like it always has been. Will you, the people, be consulted? I don’t think so. And let’s be clear that those regimes have never had your interests at heart. They have only ever seen your freedom as a threat to their own dictatorships.
Let us not forget the banned parties - the Communists and the Islamists. If Tunisia is really to be free and proud then will their voices also be heard? Apparently, they will not. Full and free elections can only occur when everyone can vote for the candidate or party of their choice. If there is not a full range of parties and opinions available to choose from, then you will be manipulated into voting for one of the “selected” candidates/parties. This is still dictatorship under the guise of democracy.
You the people, the youth, the unemployed, the workers, the women, of Tunisia must make sure that canidates and parties that represent YOUR opinion are in government and can speak for you and can fight for your cause. Otherwise, you will have swapped one dictatorship or another with the price of blood - with nothing to show for it. There is nothing preventing a more representative interim government being set up now, apart from the will of RCD members.
Do not think that the next democratic vote will solve all of your problems! Your next leader will certainly not be able to magically fix everything. However, the great danger is that whoever your next leader will be, there won’t be sufficient safeguards against him monopolizing power. It’s those safeguards that need to be in place as soon as possible. You literally can’t trust anyone. There have even been instances (e.g. Georgia) where a dissident poet turns rogue. You may wish to invite in some overseas monitors from countries you consider to be neutral and has YOUR best interests at heart.
It has been said many times that "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".
Anonymous indeed believes that your blood sacrifice shows that you deserve better than you have had up until now. The only legitimate form of power is that power which rests on widespread public consent and oversight. If you stand up and make sure that your demands are heard, just like you have been doing since December 17th - you have the chance of having a truly democratic country with a government formed from the people and for the people. However, if you do not make your voices heard, if you do not stand firm by your demands - there is a very good chance you will end up with yet another dictatorship, only the name will have changed.
Therefore Anonymous encourages you to stand firm and make your voices heard!
A good government is a government that is afraid of the people. Indeed a government should obey its people, not the other way around. Yet, for 23 year the government has asked you to be good citizens and not to make trouble. And for 23 years you have been forced to obey via the threat of extreme punishment. Enough!
Be vigilant! Be vocal! Be Proud! And most importantly: Be Free!
