Precisely one year ago, during the annual conference of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the participants, major intellectual and political leaders and businessmen, were caught by surprise by the developments in Egypt. They followed them from the Alps with both amazement and questions. At the time, a Tunisian delegation that included young people and modernists had come to the forum. Its members were enthusiastically welcomed when they spoke at a seminar that praised the change that had taken place in Tunisia without prior warning. No one really knew that the dominos would continue to fall and reach the likes of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen and Bashar Al-Assad in Syria. This year, change has become in the minds of those participating in the Davos conference, an event that pushes forward from place to place, as if it were a season of the year. Libya and Yemen are on the slow cooker, but Syria continues to be at the top of the concerns for the Davos community – albeit less so than the events in Egypt had been a year ago. Most striking was the participation of the elected Tunisian government, led by the Ennahda Movement, which has been waging as a “charm offensive” in Western capitals, major intellectual forums and international corporate giants. All of a sudden, those who had previously voiced fears regarding the Ennahda Movement and the Muslim Brotherhood moved to the forefront of those defending their right to rule, because they came to power through the ballot boxes. The frightening disregard for what is happening on the ground, in terms of curtailing democracy, is quite striking, and it has aroused the suspicion of young people and of women in positions of change, especially as this is coming essentially from the West and its various leaderships. To be clear, none of these young people and women are demanding that the results of the elections in Tunisia be overlooked, yet many are complaining of the excessive hastiness to hold parliamentary elections. It was clear the Islamists would win, given their political experience, when presidential elections should have been held instead, as they would give young people and women a chance to organize into political parties and wage the electoral battle. Because the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia has been dedicating itself to embellishing its image in the West and enticing it with moderate Islam and the ability of the Muslim Brotherhood wherever it may be to adopt the Turkish model, the issue deserves a pause and an in-depth review.

During the visit made by the author of this article to Tunisia at the beginning of the week, it was truly striking to hear what Tunisians were saying about the man whom Davos had warmly welcomed last year, the highly qualified Governor of the Central Bank and former economic expert at the World Bank, Mustapha Nabli. They were saying that a fierce campaign was being waged against him because he is the only non-Islamist in government. They also spoke of organized demonstrations targeting him, in which security services were forced to ensure his escape. Women, taxi drivers and major businessmen spoke of power being monopolized and of the state not playing its role under the rule of the Ennahda Movement. They spoke of a group of fully veiled women (wearing the niqab) shutting down an entire university and of the support they received from Salafist men. This meant physically abusing the university’s president, who had sought an understanding with the veiled women that had stormed the campus, insisting on breaking the laws that require them not to wear the niqab on university campuses. The leaders of the Ennahda Movement pretexted that the veiled women had exploited the incident to say: look, they are the extremists and we are the moderates. The fact of the matter is that the Ennahda Movement in power has refused to act as a state that enforces laws, and this has led to depriving young college girls, who had fallen hostage to the veiled women, from completing their studies as they should. The Ennahda government could have taken a decision as a state, but it chose to make use of the incident to serve its own interests, promoting itself as moderate and at a distance from extremists on the one hand, while on the other making sure to maintain its understanding with the Salafists. Indeed, it is not really clear whether predictions of a confrontation between the Salafist Islamists and the Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood will prove true, as there are those who believe that what is happening is a kind of distribution of roles, until the West falls in love with the Muslim Brotherhood, welcomes the rule of Islamists, and provides them with aid so that their rule may prosper at the expense of secularists and modernists.

What is also happening, and this is truly striking, is that members of the former regime in Tunisia are helping the Islamists in order to exact revenge on the young people who ignited the Revolution. Also striking is the fact that the Islamist camp includes capitalists and businessmen, as well as the Right, while the moderate camp is being portrayed as that of the rich and of Leftists. The lack of clarity of the programs promised by the Ennahda Movement during the electoral campaign arouses resentment and concern, as well as remorse. Monopolizing power, instead of bringing technocrats into government, hints to the fact that the Ennahda Movement embraces single-party rule. The Revolution demanded dignity –through jobs, eliminating monopoly, and decent life, far from dictates, fear-mongering and accusations of treason. Today, some of the ministers who had suffered deprivation are being made use of in order to launch campaigns, accusing some of treason and holding them to account in an exceptional manner, instead of seeking to build a collaborative civil society. This has created social tension and political and partisan movements at the expense of the aspirations for the secular state.

“It is called Strife,” said a young Tunisian woman from the youth of the Revolution, who insist on not sitting idly by and watch the Islamists in power. “No to class warfare,” said a businessman who insists on ensuring the success of the Ennahda Movement in power, out of concern for the future of Tunisia, so as for Ennahda’s failure not to result in an economic catastrophe in a country devoid of any notable natural resources, save for its beauty and the importance of tourism for its economy. “I want tourism, not long beards,” said a taxi driver, who spoke of a situation that had created a frightening social climate that scares away tourists, no matter how much makeup the revolutionary party uses to polish its image with Westerners. They all spoke of a new face for Tunisia today, where the jasmine season has gone, to be replaced by a climate of fear and insecurity. Yet there is one important exception, according to a Tunisian woman who sat in the hotel lobby, speaking freely and fiercely criticizing the way women after the Revolution have been systematically exploited. She paid no heed to those around her, and boasted as she said: “yes, something of the utmost importance has changed. I am able to express my opinion freely. I am no longer afraid, nor do I whisper and glance nervously at those who might be listening and sending intelligence reports”.