Zine El Abedine Ben Ali ruled with an iron fist but he delivered growth, education and a sophisticated, modern country that functioned. Suddenly, Ben Ali was gone and his elite bodyguard, after a few violent skirmishes with the army that remained loyal to the nation, had been neutralised. If power is given, then the real power resides with the giver, not the recipient. This time, their earlier chants of “Ben Ali Out!” changed to “RCD Out!”. But perhaps his greatest contribution may well be that he unwittingly ushered Tunisia into an era of real democracy.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 14, 2017 06:04 UTC