It is not simple to build a democratic country. Tunisia is trying to do so after the January revolution, which caused the fall of the twenty-year Ben Ali’s regime and his escape to Saudi Arabia. This is what we discuss with Hamza Chourabi, the president of the association Demokratie Tunesien, founded in Berlin after the revolution erupted at the beginning of 2011.
Compared with one year ago, how has Tunisia changed?
“After January, I have come back to my country many times. One of the main changes I have noticed is people’s interest in politics. Before, it was simply forbidden to talk about it. Now people’s discussions focus on politics, democracy… Furthermore, all tensions and conflicts suppressed by Ben Ali’s dictatorship have come to light. There have been much more strikes over the last few months, than over the last 23 years.
Tunisian Islamic party, which was fiercely persecuted by Ben Ali’s regime, won the country’s first democratic elections.
“One of the mistakes made by Western countries was that of considering Ben Ali as the only alternative to Islamic extremism. We have seen that there exists an Islamic party, that it is strong but that it does not have an absolute majority. After all, Islamic movements have much more spaces to act in and perfectly know how to use them: mosques, schools, etc.”
What can Western countries do now for Tunisia?
“They can certainly promote and support democracy and invest again in our country because foreign investments are now quite limited. But, first of all, they can help us elaborate our past. Democracy cannot be built with ignorance, Tunisia needs to be informed and know its history in order not to forget its past. Let us look for instance, at Germany, which faced two dictatorships. Germans can help us manage this situation.
And this is exactly one of your association’s goals.
“Our association is composed of Tunisians emigrated in Germany many years ago, but we all have a strong link with our country, where we try to create a sort of bridge between a dictatorial past and a possible democratic future. We organise, for example, meetings in schools where adults and elderly people can share their experiences with youths. We try to politically train new generations, because democracy does not concern only parties and governments but the society in its whole. And – let me say this again – it is not possible to create our future without facing our past.”
Have you organised some projects in Germany as well?
“In Germany, we tend to promote cultural initiatives; we have organised conferences, some photo exhibitions on the revolution, concerts of Tunisian bands and plays. In this moment, we aim at creating a memorial in Tunis in the Palace of Ben Ali’s Interior Ministry. This is a really emblematic place. This palace is the symbol of the violence perpetrated by the police, but it is also a place where common people worked, people who had nothing to do with the regime. Our reference is the Stasi Museum of Berlin; the museum’s director has already visited twice the building in Tunis and we are working with him to realise our project”.
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