WHAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY IN TUNISIA?

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Gudrun Harrer in conversation with Sarah Mersch

WHAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY IN TUNISIA?

In autumn 2019, the lawyer Kais Saied was elected president in Tunisia, with many people hoping that he would bring more calm to the often chaotic political transition process following the end of Ben Ali's dictatorship. Five years later, the country where the so-called „Arab Spring“ began in 2011 seems to be moving further and further away from a democratic path. Presidential elections will be held in Tunisia on 6 October, and the electoral authority controlled by Saied is putting obstacles in the way of opposing candidates to Saied. Since he dismissed the government and shut down parliament in 2021, Kais Saied has amassed more and more power.  

Sarah Mersch, Film scholar and freelance correspondent has been reporting on Tunisia and the Maghreb from Tunis since 2010. She is particularly interested in the medium and long-term effects of the political upheavals in the region on politics, the economy and society. Her Arabic language skills allow her to report in a well-founded, in-depth manner and from direct contact with the people. She regularly reports as a radio, print and multimedia journalist for ARD, NZZ and epd, among others.

Gudrun Harrer, Senior Editor, Der Standard; Lecturer for Modern History and Politics of the Near and Middle East at the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna