Digital democracy
October 23, 2011
Riadh Guerfali may be royalty among Tunisian dissident bloggers, yet his name is unknown in Tunisia. People know him as "Astrubal," his online identity. In 2004, Astrubal co-founded the collective - and censored - blog Nawaat, or "core."
Nawaat played a central role in relaying information abroad during the Tunisian uprising that led to the fall of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's regime in January. When cyberactivists came out of hiding, Astrubal's readers expected a long-haired geek or a bearded guerillero. They discovered a distinguished professor of constitutional law.
For long and lonely years, Tunisian cyberactivists were only names and pixels, fighting censorship and dictatorship online. Today, Astrubal and a few cyberfellows are competing for one of the 217 seats in the Constitutional assembly that will write the new Tunisian constitution.
"Our objectives as bloggers included changing the world around us, pushing for democratic institutions … With these new opportunities, our values are the same," said Riadh-Astrubal during the Third Arab bloggers Meeting in Tunis, before resuming his door-to-door campaigning in his home town of Bizerte.
New-found freedom
After 26 years of repression, silencing of free speech and rigged elections, Tunisians have been enjoying their new freedoms over a three-week electoral campaign. Over 100 new political parties have been registered. Carpenters, students, taxi drivers, out of work architects, housewifes or bio-tech scientists are courting voters on local lists, representing hundreds of political nuances.
On the Tunis walls, the electoral posters of communist lists are plastered side by side with feminist lists or conservative Muslim parties' lists. In a country of only 10 millions inhabitants, 1,636 lists were submitted for this historical election, totalling a staggering 10,000 or so candidates.
"Up to now, I was in the Tunisian opposition. Today, I want to participate and build," says cyberactivist and human rights activist Amira Yahyaoui, 27. She is campaigning in France where around half a million Tunisians live, with her list Saw Moskatel (Independent Voice) to represent the Tunisian diaspora. One of her co-listers, blogger Imen, 28, has postponed her PhD submission to take part in this heady time for her country
Tunisian cyberactivists are undoubtedly a "digital elite" with a clean record. But is that enough, even in the most connected country of the Arab world, where over two million Tunisians are on Facebook? Their online fame means nothing to most Tunisian citizens, who were shielded from "politics" by a very sophisticated cybercensorship and police surveillance. Another handicap is their choice to run as independents.
"We don't want to play the political games of the parties, and the most difficult thing for us independents is, that the mainstream media give plenty of space to the parties and ignore us - despite the fact that 45 percent of the lists are independent," says Guerfali.
Digital drive?
Their digital expertise is not an asset, says candidate and tech blogger Mehdi Lamloum. "I used to rely upon social media, but Facebook will not be of much help. We need to be closer to people on the ground."
Yassine Ayari, another cyberactivist, head of the "Free Youth" list, does not even want to be labeled a blogger. "I want to be a public actor who blogs, not a blogger doing politics," he stated on his blog.
Tarek Kahlaoui, Yassine Ayari and Adib Sammoud are other examples of cyberactivists taking the plunge from pixels to polls, but in a low-key fashion on the Web.
They may also keep a low profile online because political passions are boiling over on social media. The hashtag on Twitter for Tunisia's elections, TnElec, spews thousands of tweets every day, and Facebook has become a battleground, exposing a deep rift among Tunisians: Their stand on the first article of the current constitution, which states that Tunisia is a Muslim country. Should it be amended to secular?
Tunisians have regained their religious freedom as well, and many women have chosen to wear the Muslim veil, which was forbidden under Ben Ali. The rehabilitated Muslim party, Ennahdah, is currently leading in the polls.
"I'm scared," confesses a Tunis woman blogger who wishses to remain anonymous, although the leading Muslim party has promised that women's rights will stand as they are. But many progressives have no objection to the word muslim in their Constitution and are weary of Western interpretations and models.
Astrubal, for one, on his blog, stated that it should not be changed, and that Tunisia has the potential to build a new model of secular Muslim state. "The real democratic challenge lies elsewhere, in the mechanisms that will guarantee the fundamental rights and the rule of law."
In the streets or on social media, Tunisians express above all their anticipation of tasting freedom in the poll stations. In Tunis, a woman asks a foreigner: "How do you monitor elections in your country? We don't know. You see, I've never voted before."
Blogger Mehdi Lamloum reminds skeptics that the massive online presence of Tunisians on a now free web is the greatest asset: "Future political representatives have one thing in common: They will be held accountable."
Author: Claire Ulrich, Tunisia
Editor: Rob Mudge