Tunisia’s small but necessary step

The choice of Mehdi Jomaa as interim PM ends months of deadlock. But there are bigger changes that need to be made

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There was good news from Tunisia over the weekend. Today, there is bad. That seems to be the fate of so many of the Arab Spring countries, oscillating between progress and regression.

The good news was the choice of a little-known independent to be the interim prime minister. Mehdi Jomaa, the country’s industry minister, was chosen after the previous nominee, 92-year old Mustapha Filali, ruled himself out due to his age. Mr Jomaa will now form a government of independents to lead the country into elections next year. That is a positive step, a sign that the impasse the country has been locked into of much for this year may be over.

And now the bad. Today, as The National reports, there will be a “day of rage” in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the Tunisian revolution, to protest at the continuing lack of improvements in daily life. This is the root cause of Tunisia’s current grievances and, indeed, it is this frustration that led to widespread disenchantment with the previous Ennahda-led coalition. In the summer, when activists staged mass rallies against Ennahda, seeking to remove them just like the Islamists were removed in Egypt, some of those who joined the protests were not against the Islamists per se (some may even have been inclined to give them a chance in government) but were united by the failure, nearly three years on from the revolution, to create substantial change in the economy.

Change takes a long time. It is easy to say that from the outside. And yet it is telling that Tunisians not only don’t believe change has happened, but they don’t believe it is even coming. It is that inability to see the light at the end of the tunnel that speaks to the failure of Tunisia’s politicians. A report this month by Transparency International on corruption around the world showed that while Tunisia was less corrupt than other North African neighbours, it still had a lot of work to do. But of greater concern was that a majority of the Tunisians surveyed felt that corruption had increased and, in particular, that they identified political parties as the second-most corrupt group in society, only marginally better than the police, and far worse than the military.

It is the economy that will, ultimately, prove the test of any new government. But before that even happens, Tunisians must be convinced that their lives will get better. A whole year has gone by with the Ennahda and the broadly secular opposition at loggerheads. That jam appears to have been cleared, but Tunisians cannot afford another 12 months without substantial improvements. Good news can rapidly turn bad – and the bad, as Tunisia saw graphically three years ago tomorrow, can quickly get worse.