Open letter to President Kais Saied

I address this letter to you with all that the ethics of statesmen and the rules of propriety and courtesy require, for I grew up in a generation that holds that the State has its dignity and that its men and women hold positions that must be respected.

Tunisia today, under absolute rule, is living through delicate and difficult circumstances, and the future is no longer a source of hope and expectation for Tunisians but a cause of anxiety and fear.

President Kais Saied: I address you as Tunisia celebrates Independence Day, the independence of a homeland entrusted to us by generations who gave everything for it. Recalling on this occasion that what unites Tunisians is greater than what divides them, I pray to God that you will not be impatient to hear from a Tunisian who cares for his country and hopes you will remember that rulers come and go while the homeland endures, and that “had it lasted for another, it would never have come to you”.

Do not be the president of scowls and hatred; be the president of smiles and tolerance. Do not be ruled by your whims, and do not unleash the shrill voices that spread the poison of hatred without restraint or conscience; instead show openness, accept other views and make the country’s interest your only compass.

Do not be the president of demolition, threats and warnings; be the president of building, of good faith and good news. A society of trust, reassurance and openness to others is better than a society of suspicion, fear and withdrawal. And a Tunisia reconciled with its history, reconciled among its sons and daughters, reconciled between its heritage and its modernity, reconciled with its young people and their striving for a better life, is better for us than a Tunisia eaten away by polarisation, torn apart by contrived battles and still losing its young people and its talent to emigration.

Do not be the “president of populism” who sets Tunisians against one another; be the president of “national unity” who governs and reforms without oppressing. Do not use just causes, such as fighting corruption and protecting public funds, in false and misguided battles for retribution, revenge and the elimination of competition: corruption is not fought with tyranny, and the monopoly and corruption of power, like the monopoly and corruption of money, are two sides of the same coin.

Do not be the president of “absolute truth” and of opinion imposed, nor the president of surveillance and curtailed freedoms who considers himself above error and above accountability; be the president of consultation, guarantor of freedom of expression and of the independence of the judiciary and the media. Do not blame your failures on the aides and civil servants you chose of your own free will and then dismissed with a stroke of the pen, showing them neither regard nor gratitude. A statesman does not humiliate those who serve the State, nor make the denigration of the administration a method of government, for the dignity and strength of the State come from the dignity of its servants and citizens.

Do not be the president of “the state of stagnation”, of the collapse of every economic indicator, of falling purchasing power and of acute shortages of basic goods that Tunisians now struggle to obtain, which has driven up poverty, sharpened social inequality and worsened household debt; be the president of a State of strength, justice and wise administration. Do not neglect the duty to provide Tunisians with the means for a decent life by distracting them with a series of prosecutions and arbitrary arrests, for prisons filled with women and men, political opponents and dissenting voices, have never filled stomachs and never will.

Do not be the president of the country’s tarnished image and declining standing abroad; be the president of justice and rights at home, and of strength and dignity abroad. Do not expose our country to the danger of “sovereign default”, and do not found a diplomacy of begging and of bargaining away the nation’s principles and sovereignty.

Do not deny Tunisia the chance to recover and break with the culture of demolition. For perhaps one of the signs that a reign is ending is seeing opponents, enemies and conspiracies everywhere and at every moment; and nothing is harder for a ruler than to be overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, failure and isolation, having exhausted every solution until only one option remains: a headlong rush that takes the country into the unknown.

Finally, if this message does not concern you, and if you prefer to replace the force of argument with the argument of force, it concerns me and binds me, and I have the honour of addressing it to all those who intend to stand in the coming presidential election. If you want this election to be an opportunity to prolong Tunisians’ suffering and lead the country into a new tunnel of disappointment and failure, after five years that coincided with the country’s decline in many areas, we want to make it a real hope for recovery and reconstruction. It is for Tunisians to choose… and choose they surely will.

May God protect Tunisia

Mondher Zenaidi