So, finally the tables are starting to turn. The ousted dictators in Egypt and Tunisia are in the dock. Tunisian ex-strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali has been convicted of embezzling $27 million but is comfortably in exile in Saudi Arabia; Egyptian ex-despot Hosni Mubarak, who has recently been indicted for murdering peaceful protesters, is in custody in his native land. For the first time in modern Middle East history, heads of state are being tried for their crimes. Both Mubarak and Ben Ali used the state exchequer as personal bank accounts. Both ordered their security forces to gun down hundreds of unarmed demonstrators. Regardless of their ultimate legal status, the fact that they are being made to answer for their misdeeds will send the right signal to other leaders both in and out of the region.
And there have been other positive developments in these two countries that served as inspirations for mass nonviolent protests not only throughout the Middle East, but also places a greater distance away. (Think Wisconsin and Spain, to cite two examples.) Contrary to coverage in the mainstream media that portrays both nations as containing a dangerous political vacuum waiting to be filled in by fundamentalists, there is a lot of exciting mobilizing going on—mobilization that has already brought about momentous further change. In Egypt, activists have forced the interim government to back down a number of times, on issues ranging from gender equality to workers’ rights.
Labor federations, student movements, women's organizations and new liberal-leaning Islamist youth groups have forced out Mubarak's allies at television networks and newspapers, shuttered the hated State Security and police ministries, confiscated police files on dissidents, triggered more cabinet resignations and pursued indictments against perpetrators of police brutality, state corruption and religious bigotry, writes Paul Amar in The Nation.
They have established new political parties, fended off attempts to circumscribe women's rights, expanded the millions-strong independent labor federation, reclaimed university administrations and staged the first truly free elections for university councils, professional syndicates and labor unions in Egypt's modern history.
In neighboring Tunisia, the achievements have been no less impressive. The Tunisian people have fought back efforts by elements of the old dictatorship to remain in power, a second movement that writer Graham Usher calls as remarkable as the first one that ousted Ben Ali.
An avalanche of civil disobedience not only swept away two interim cabinets, it also forced the resignation of Ben Ali-appointed governors in the provinces, the dissolution of his ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) and the disbanding of the state security apparatus, including Ben Alis hated political police, writes Usher.
Nahda [the Islamist formation] and other parties that had been banned were allowed to operate. And newly amnestied political prisoners were permitted to run for office.
The transitional regimes in both countries have also been compelled to call elections for new constituent assemblies. If a new order has not yet been born, at least the old order seems to be dying. There are still potential pitfalls along the way. Tunisia and Egypt could fall back into autocracy or be taken over by hard-line fundamentalists. But the people are vigilant and are determined to make their new projects succeed. Before too long, Tunisia and Egypt could be role models for the Arab world and far beyond.