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Imed Lassoued is a Tunisian journalist. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in literature from the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Humanities La Manouba of Tunis, Tunisia. You can follow him on Twitter at: @imed2010 [/symple_box]
Tunis, Tunisia-The history of men is seen as a struggle in motion against wild nature in a bet to make the world a better place to live in. For this, men have to set rules and regulations so as to overcome the forces barring them from progress. Corruption was pinpointed in this process as a hurdle barring any society in its quest for progress and prosperity. The faster any government tackles this evil, the more progress it is said to achieve. This general view of corruption seems relevant to many countries in the Arab world and beyond. Tunisia is not immune from this trend.
Tunisia has been plagued by this man-made disease for at least more than three decades. Its ramifications are seen in today’s Tunisia. Each sector is suffering from corruption. As a matter of fact the ranking of Tunisia according to International Transparency is quite indicative to what extent this issue is serious. Tunisia has ranked 79 out of 175 countries according to International Transparency 2014 report. Although during the Troika (Troika is the government coalition made up of the three main political parties: Ennahda, Etakattol, and C.P.R) rule, some measures that have been taken like the sacking of high-ranking officials from some public sectors and forcing some to retire have proved insufficient. The acting government has all the liabilities and tools to adopt a series of courageous measures in order to curb the spread of corruption and bring those responsible for this scourge to justice. Civil society should have a say in this and be included in any debate concerning the adoption of new laws. Actually, the new law that aims at combating terrorism and the laundering of money could have far-reaching consequences. Terrorism can only thrive in a corrupt environment. Corruption is a fertile ground where terrorists can set in a firm foot and permeate the social tissue. The new constitution gives judges new liabilities that were nonexistent in Ben Ali’s regime. This could only help them feel free while tackling files against corruption and other issues regardless of the profile of the offender.
The religious institution should not be overlooked. It should play its proper role. For more than two decades the religious speech in Tunisia was distanced and banned from treating burning issues and dangerous trends that our society crept in.
The pace of change is not as quick as we wish it to be. Tunisia is indeed a construction site; corruption is one of these new construction sites that need to be tackled. In the meantime the unfolding news of verdicts against corrupt individuals charged with corruption could tell us about the seriousness of this government in dealing with this burning file.
