To my fellow members of the JDT, let us not become lackadaisical. Let us overcome, through dialogue, our ideological differences and unite as one. Our real job has just begun. Many of you marched and many of you have been beaten. The physical and emotional scars will be with you forever. I ask you, what was our main objective and why did so many of us get killed and injured? Was it simply to get rid of ZABA? Or was it to rid our country of the corruption, nepotism, and the muzzle we wore for so many years, no matter what name it Bore? If the answer is yes, then we should not rest for one moment. Ben Ali may have left, but all other fundamentals constituting autocracy, corruption, and lack of basic freedoms are still omnipresent. The players are different, but the game and their plan for us is the same.
One would only have to look at the initiatives being taken by the interim government to pursue the criminals and their deep-seated rooted corruption machines, to notice an obvious lack of transparency and accountability. We have had 55 years of empty promises. What we want is action. And we want to see the results, not just hear about them.
I warn that this transition period is very critical for the Tunisian people. We may have ministers whose hands are less dirty, or who chose to look the other way and not speak up under the ZABA regime. However, they have a very powerful, well-managed, well-financed, and very savvy underground police force. Some are militia, some are hired to stir trouble, and others are adept dividing us. They are the ones who tortured us, stole from us, terrorized us, and possibly killed some our loved ones.
I advise you to organize and rally behind the more intellectually mature of you. I warn you not to let your guard down and go about your business as if nothing happened. Make your voices heard in a passive way. Take to the airwaves and get others to help. Create committees and watch groups. Invite foreign experts, and NGO who have witnessed regime transitions in the past. Ask for transparency and results (proof) of all investigations into the prior regime.
We need a government OF the people, BY the people, and FOR the people.
Leadership Challenges of the 21st Century 