Earlier Saturday late Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi was buried in his family cemetery after a respectable funeral for an Arab leader.
Since I was child, I have seen lots Arab presidents and kings’ funerals and one thing I noticed in Essebsi’s funeral that I did not feel or notice in those funerals: People’s true respect.
The people did not show hypocritic hysterical sadness that we are used to in our part of the world.
That populist culture about the death of that leader/father figure did not exist despite Essebsi’s old age and despite his long political life.
After all the 92-years-old veteran stateman was Tunisia’s first democratically elected president and the man met and dealt with true opposition, not a fake one.
This is the most important role the veteran stateman played since Tunisia’s independence for real in a very critical time.
I do not think that he would have imagined that he would end his life as the President of Democratic Tunisia.
Some Non-Tunisian Islamists are cursing him for enforcing more secular laws when it comes to inheritance and marriage laws as well as their constitution-related articles.
It is up to the Tunisian people to change those laws as well as their constitution at the end of the day at any time.
For me, Essebsi and another man called Rached Ghannouchi made a historical choice to protect Tunisia and its young democracy from the collapse of the Democratic Arab Spring in 2013.
This is how I will remember Beji Caid Essebsi. He was not the most revolutionary nor he represented the youth of Tunisia.
He was the reformist old stateman from the old state who respected the will of the Tunisian people and their democracy in very hard times.
He was proof in radical times, reform can play the most revolutionary role in the hardest time in the region.
Again it was not him and the secular powers alone but the Islamists as well and above the Tunisian people.
Needless to say, I feel that what happened in my dear beloved Egypt was like a cautionary tale for Tunisia and yes Tunisia is not Egypt but the message was received on both popular level and political powers level.
God bless Tunisia and its people as well as its political powers.
Personally, I wish we had in Egypt someone like Essebsi and Ghannouchi, we probably had them but they were not given a proper or even the slightest chance in the first place.
Back to Beji Caid Essebsi’s funeral
Interestingly the two high-level Arab leaders who attended it were the Prince of Qatar and the Interim President of Algeria.
UAE sent Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi is the current ruler of the Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt declared National mourning for three days.
French President Macron attended it and gave a word too about the wisdom of old Essebsi.
The scene of Islamist Nahda Party vice president and the vice speaker of the Tunisian parliament Abdel Fattah Mourou keeping his promise to walk behind Essebsi’s coffin till his burial.
I can’t hide the fact that I am extremely worried about Tunisia and its future as well as its democracy.
I am worried that in the upcoming 90 days the country may witness trouble especially we got regional powers that reject both democracy and Islamist powers in any Arab country.
Tunisia is still having an infant democracy in a rotten area that worships dictatorships before God Almighty, hopefully, that infant will grow more and more.
These regional powers have got a clear access thanks to the rise of the Right Wing in the West especially US President Donald Trump to crash any attempt of democracy under the disguise of radicalism.
In the end, sometimes fate put some men in the strangest places eventually to play a role in the history of a nation.
Some fail like late Mohamed Morsi and some succeed like Essebsi, May Allah bless their souls and have mercy on ours.
May Allah protect of Tunisia and its people.
Since I was child, I have seen lots Arab presidents and kings’ funerals and one thing I noticed in Essebsi’s funeral that I did not feel or notice in those funerals: People’s true respect.
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| Vice president of Nahda Party "Islamist" Abdel Fattah El-Mourou walking behind the coffin of late President Essebsi |
That populist culture about the death of that leader/father figure did not exist despite Essebsi’s old age and despite his long political life.
After all the 92-years-old veteran stateman was Tunisia’s first democratically elected president and the man met and dealt with true opposition, not a fake one.
This is the most important role the veteran stateman played since Tunisia’s independence for real in a very critical time.
I do not think that he would have imagined that he would end his life as the President of Democratic Tunisia.
Some Non-Tunisian Islamists are cursing him for enforcing more secular laws when it comes to inheritance and marriage laws as well as their constitution-related articles.
It is up to the Tunisian people to change those laws as well as their constitution at the end of the day at any time.
For me, Essebsi and another man called Rached Ghannouchi made a historical choice to protect Tunisia and its young democracy from the collapse of the Democratic Arab Spring in 2013.
This is how I will remember Beji Caid Essebsi. He was not the most revolutionary nor he represented the youth of Tunisia.
He was the reformist old stateman from the old state who respected the will of the Tunisian people and their democracy in very hard times.
He was proof in radical times, reform can play the most revolutionary role in the hardest time in the region.
Again it was not him and the secular powers alone but the Islamists as well and above the Tunisian people.
Needless to say, I feel that what happened in my dear beloved Egypt was like a cautionary tale for Tunisia and yes Tunisia is not Egypt but the message was received on both popular level and political powers level.
God bless Tunisia and its people as well as its political powers.
Personally, I wish we had in Egypt someone like Essebsi and Ghannouchi, we probably had them but they were not given a proper or even the slightest chance in the first place.
Back to Beji Caid Essebsi’s funeral
Interestingly the two high-level Arab leaders who attended it were the Prince of Qatar and the Interim President of Algeria.
UAE sent Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi is the current ruler of the Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt declared National mourning for three days.
French President Macron attended it and gave a word too about the wisdom of old Essebsi.
The scene of Islamist Nahda Party vice president and the vice speaker of the Tunisian parliament Abdel Fattah Mourou keeping his promise to walk behind Essebsi’s coffin till his burial.
I can’t hide the fact that I am extremely worried about Tunisia and its future as well as its democracy.
I am worried that in the upcoming 90 days the country may witness trouble especially we got regional powers that reject both democracy and Islamist powers in any Arab country.
Tunisia is still having an infant democracy in a rotten area that worships dictatorships before God Almighty, hopefully, that infant will grow more and more.
These regional powers have got a clear access thanks to the rise of the Right Wing in the West especially US President Donald Trump to crash any attempt of democracy under the disguise of radicalism.
In the end, sometimes fate put some men in the strangest places eventually to play a role in the history of a nation.
Some fail like late Mohamed Morsi and some succeed like Essebsi, May Allah bless their souls and have mercy on ours.
May Allah protect of Tunisia and its people.
Well said, may he R.I.P.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Shakespeare said: "Some men are born to greatness, some men have Greatness thrust upon them".
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