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CSID Report - 

Consolidating Tunisia's Democracy

with Dr. Mustapha Ben Jaafar
President, of Tunisia's National Constituent Assembly 

 


Tunisian Constituent Assembly President Dr. Mustapha Ben Jaafar made his first trip to Washington D.C. since the revolution on May 5-8, 2014, for meetings with senior American and international officials and to deliver a lecture at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies on the success of Tunisia's constitutional process and future challenges to Tunisian democracy.

On this auspicious occasion, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) hosted a banquet dinner on May 5 at the Mayflower hotel for over 120 distinguished administration officials and representatives of leading national and international organizations. Dr. Radwan Masmoudi, President of CSID, opened the remarks by extolling Dr. Ben Jaafar's long history of struggle against dictatorship and oppression and his central role in ensuring the democratic transition's success, noting that Ben Jaafar:

is a voice of reason and calm in the country and in the National Constituent Assembly, and I believe Tunisia owes him a great deal of appreciation and respect . . . for bridging the gap and keeping everyone focused on working together and on achieving the main objective: building a genuine democratic order for all Tunisians, for past and for future generations.

Dr. John Duke Anthony, President of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, which co-sponsored the event, in welcoming Dr. Mustapha Ben Jaafar to Washington, D.C., added that Ben Jaafar:,

Is different than most other Arab leaders who grace the halls of this city, in the sense that in addition to being a medical doctor, a national political leader and a statesman, and an activist, he comes from a background that was involved with labor activities . . . which, in Tunisia, was the backbone of the national struggle for independence.

Anthony added that Ben Jaafar, can be found "at both ends of the bridge" between political and economic stability, and himself embodies that bridge.



Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East and North Africa Gerald Feinstein was unequivocal in voicing his and Secretary Kerry's support and admiration for the Tunisian model. "This has been a year where there has been a great deal of exchange back and forth between Tunis and Washington," said Mr. Feierstein, signaling the U.S.'s strong support for the democratic transition:

It is Tunisia that remains our best hope for a successful democratic transition in the Middle East and North Africa region, and working with the people and the government . . . to lay a foundation for political stability and economic prosperity . . . is in fact a priority for the United States.

Tunisia has, in recent months, taken very important and noteworthy steps toward solidifying its democratic transition, with "perhaps the most progressive constitution in the Muslim world." He stressed the importance of upcoming elections and concluded, "It is a fact that the road to democracy is long and difficult, and it is a road that never ends."


Former U.S. ambassador to Tunisia William Hudson developed a deep respect for Ben Jaafar during his tenure as ambassador from 2004-6. Hudson recalled an early encounter at Ben Jaafar's office:

What most impressed me during that meeting was his patriotism, his love for Tunisia, and his desire to ensure that Tunisia has a positive political future. During my three years in Tunisia, Dr. Ben Jaafar persevered in his efforts to bring about democratic change . . ., often in spite of significant cost to himself. . . . My admiration [for him] has only grown as he has played a pivotal role as President of the National Constituent Assembly.



Finally, just before Dr. Ben Jaafar took the stage, Dr. William Lawrence, President of the American Tunisian Association, underscored the breadth of the consensus that saved Tunisia from falling into disarray numerous times, from civil society actors to the  trade union to women's groups in bringing people to the table. "The whole picture of the Tunisian success is a mosaic," said Dr. Lawrence, "and Washington sometimes has a hard time understanding mosaics." He continued:



I would postulate that one of the reasons for the consensus was him. Despite rows with Aridha Chaabia, defections from his own party, and widespread criticism during the 2013 crisis, Dr. Ben Jaafar suspended the activities of the ANC but then engaged in dogged defense of the democratic process, and of the resulting national dialogue that emerged from emergency negotiations, which then coalesced together into one process.

The Tunisian story, continued Dr. Lawrence, "was not about outspoken or flashy heroics; this was about soft-spoken heroics, strong-minded determination, political savvy, and persistence." Quoting a Tunisia-based analyst who watched him in action, Ben Jaafar "stayed the course between wind and tides and bet on an alliance between Islamists and secularist to end an Egyptian-style polarization." Going forward, steady hands, like Dr. Ben Jaafar's, would be needed to steer the Tunisian ship towards democracy and prosperity.

Dr. Ben Jaafar, clearly moved by the proceedings, began saying how honored he was to receive such high praise from amongst a gathering of such renowned individuals. "I am speechless at your words, and humbled immensely by them; I do not know if I deserve such praise for work that I have done with great pride and with a sense of duty and responsibility to Tunisia." Ben Jaafar emphasized how his family's history of resistance and struggle for independence instilled in him an innate passion and will to fight for the causes of democracy, human rights, and equality between men and women. In discussing the long and entangled string of events that led to Tunisia's path toward democracy, Dr. Ben Jaafar said:

There are two phenomena that have allowed [this] experiment in democracy to be successful thus far: the first is the consensus-driven democratic process that the National Constituent Assembly embraced in drafting the new Constitution, and the second is the power-sharing and coalition between-generally speaking-one party or group that has an Islamist or conservative tendency and the other with a secular leaning.



Back in the late 1980s, when the Ben Ali regime orchestrated a brutal crackdown on members of the Nahdha party, Dr. Ben Jaafar recalled how all of Tunisia's opposition leaders - progressives, secularists, socialists, nationalists-denounced the widespread attacks as an assault against human rights and human dignity. "Difference of opinion or of political orientation is no excuse for refusing to work together in resisting any sort of oppression and seeing it as oppression against us all."



Dr. Ben Jaafar concluded by explaining how difficult but ultimately rewarding it was for Tunisia's nascent democracy to try to strike a balance between electoral legitimacy and the legitimacy of consensus. Although two political assassinations and public disorder almost derailed the political process, Dr. Ben Jaafar expressed how fortunate Tunisia had been that its leaders had the courage to choose consensus over confrontation. Promising to continue to work for democracy and human rights as he has always done, Dr. Mustapha Ben Jaafar impressed upon the audience the importance of involving all Tunisians and all friends of Tunisia in working together to ensure that Tunisia's nascent democracy is given the support and endorsement that it needs and deserves:


I can promise you all today that-once we are able to overcome this very precarious situation in which we find ourselves - Tunisia will succeed, that we will build a new Tunisia that will be a nation of freedoms and a nation of prosperity.

Dr. Masmoudi concluded the evening with a call to action: "Please, every one of you should make a call to your Senators and your Congressmen. Ask them to support Tunisia. Ask them to support democracy in the Arab and Muslim World." With the United States too often unclear in its positions towards and relationships with the Arab countries that experienced revolutions and uprisings, Dr. Masmoudi implored the audience to voice their strong endorsement of the example of democracy and compromise being set in Tunisia. With a world so interconnected and interdependent, what happens in Tunisia will have an immediate impact on not only the region, but the whole world. Building bridges and strengthening cooperative efforts from all partners is the only path to success.


 
Report written by Mariem Masmoudi, Graduate Student at Columbia University, and Bill Lawrence, Director of MENA programs at CSID, Visiting Professor at George Washington University, and Senior Fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED).
____________________________________________________________________________________

Click here to watch the WELCOMING REMARKS preceding the speech of Dr. Mustapha Ben Jaafar, at the CSID Banquet Dinner Event on May 5, 2014.


Click here to watch the VIDEO of the speech of Dr. Mustapha Ben Jaafar (in Arabic) , at the CSID Banquet Dinner Event on May 5, 2014.

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The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy is a non-profit think tank, based in Washington DC - dedicated to promoting a better understanding of democracy in the Muslim world, and a better understanding of Islam in America. To achieve its objectives, the Center organizes meetings, conferences, and publishes several reports and periodicals. CSID engages Muslim groups, parties, and governments - both secularist and moderate Islamist - in public debates on how to reconcile Muslims' interpretation of Islam and democracy.  CSID is committed to providing democracy education to ordinary citizens, civil society, religious and political leaders in the Muslim world, and has organized meetings, workshops, and conferences in over 25 countries, including Nigeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, etc.
 
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