Tunisia: Growing pains of a nascent democracy
“To democracy there is more than just having a constitution and conducting elections”
In a critical reflection on the current Tunisian political situation, Dr Moncef Kartas (project coordinator of the North Africa Security Assessment, Small Arms Survey) remarks that the revolution corroborated an already strong corporatist state. Powerful professional corps and unions are a serious challenge to Tunisia’s nascent democracy, with each group striving to maximize its influence.
Argueing that “one of the weakest institutions in Tunisia is the parliament”, Dr. Kartas urged the international community to direct its aid toward strengthening this body to foster democratic governance.
The interview was conducted on January 22, 2015. Dr Kartas visited the Netherlands to partake in a panel on ‘Guns and Borders: Libya’s Arms Bazaar Fueling Conflicts in the Arab World’ as part of the Henriette van Lynden lecture series organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
