‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ is the rule Ezzedine Shu’aibi, one of the five workers of the NCA’s refreshment room has adopted, in addition to another rule he follows: ‘Have no opinion,’ to avoid talking about the substance of the Constitution.

‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ is the rule Ezzedine Shu’aibi, one of the five workers of the NCA’s refreshment room has adopted, in addition to another rule he follows: ‘Have no opinion,’ to avoid talking about the substance of the Constitution.

Shu’aibi, almost 50, is keen not to disclose his 20-year-long tenure in the assembly. He has always kept the secrets that come his way since he began working in the National Constituent Assembly, previously referred to as ‘People’s Council’ in 1993. It was later known as ‘Chamber of Deputies’ until 2011 when it adopted its current name.

Faithfully silent

He avoids talking about permanent conflicts within the constituent committees or the assembly’s deliberations. And, should he ever refer to any such issues, he would speak about conflicting stories circulated by different parties to further their ‘political games,’ which he believes should stop if it comes to the Constitution to which Shu’aibi attaches high hopes and expectations.

“A Constitution unites all and ensures the basic pillars of justice for all Tunisians. It is a Constitution for a people rather than for a particular group,” Shu’aibi explained. Tunisia, says Shu’aibi, should be a unified Muslim people whose only worry would be the return of dictatorship, albeit in the most beautiful garbs, in order to ensure a better future for all its citizens who suffered ‘injustice and dictatorship.’

“In yester years, the assembly’s deliberations were theatrical,” said Shu’aibi revealing the first secret. He remembers very well that the resolutions and laws used to come to the Chamber of Deputies from the presidential palace in Carthage and that everyone had to succumb to them and to their initiator, former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was ousted by popular protests in January, 2011.

Shu’aibi lived the details of the ‘assembly’s theatricality’ beyond the stage. He says he spent years “working for the ruling regime,” without antagonizing it or joining its ranks to “get benefits.” He avoided the wrath of his superiors who, he admits, “never humiliated an employee or an official in the assembly.”

But that ‘theatricality’, according to Shu’aibi, had its advantages, including the fact that the assembly’s performance under President Fouad Mebazaa (under Ben Ali) was “more organized, less tiresome, and less stressful.” For 16 years, the Chamber of Deputies’ deliberations were shrunk into discussing the public budget and holding very few annual plenary sessions. It endeavored to consolidate “the party’s and the president’s control.”

The disadvantage of that era, he believes, was widespread fear. “All were afraid and incapable of expressing their views freely, to the contrary of the case today.” Having avoided discussing political issues with his four children for many years, Shu’aibi now argues like Tunisia’s rulers and stands up in defense of the rights of workers who elected him to their federation’s membership.

Newfound freedoms

He believes that the advantages and gains of the revolution have been only freedom of speech and opinion, but have fallen short of improving social conditions of NCA workers. The revolution has even deprived them of the ‘parliamentary grant’, and all their protests to get it back have failed.

Shu’aibi stands behind the coffee machine, busy washing white cups to serve French coffee to his customers who rarely agree on a particular issue as they do about Shu’aibi’s ability to serve them green tea, ‘Tunisia’s favorite drink’, as confirmed by Salma Mabrouk and Farida Obeidi, NCA members for the opposition and the ruling parties.

For a year and a half after the revolution, Shu’aibi witnessed the rivalry by the NCA leading political parties to win the confidence of the independents for voting in favor or against a projected bill. He, however, refrains from providing any details about the negotiations or revealing the content of the promises he heard.

Even those differences behind closed doors, the purport of which is known to Shu’aibi, remain trapped in his secret box. Although he acknowledges that each party in the NCA defends its interests, from both government and opposition, he identifies neither the nature of the interests he refers to nor the party responsible for ‘disrupting’ the NCA works, although he stresses that it works at full stretch.

Shu’aibi’s keeping of the secrets of his clients, whether MPs or ministers who have been frequenting his refreshment room throughout their accountability sessions for a year, is due to 20 years work experience.

A worker’s grievances

But Shu’aibi’s anger and complaints are motivated by his working hours from eight in the morning until late hours at night to serve drinks to the NCA officials to help them cope with a lack of sleep, of which, he himself complains about. For the past two years, he has not taken a leave, and has not even enjoyed the Saturday holiday, as he used to do in the past. All these discomforts have happened against his will, he says.

Shu’aibi never discloses a secret or criticizes a certain situation. He is “an employee whom no one consults about politics”. He is like water, ever ready to adjust to any container, even if that container happens to be ‘dictatorial’. His working principle is to serve whoever takes power; today he serves Ennahda, and tomorrow he may serve another party. What matters for him most is that he is not to be “described as remnant of the former regime.”

Shu’aibi’s struggle to defend himself as an employee rather than a politician with loyalties that he would change according to circumstances is accompanied by mocking of what he calls the ‘25th hour revolutionaries’ who are among his 300 colleagues at the NCA. Some of them were staunch advocates of the former regime, but soon after switched loyalty and became strong defenders of Ennahda. Shu’aibi refuses to support or antagonize Ennahda because “Today it is in power, and tomorrow will be out of it.” Shu’aibi stresses he reported this attitude to Ennahda leading figure Samir Dilou when he visited them to discuss cancellation of a scheduled strike.

Shu’aibi says he does not wish to see any of his four sons become a member in the next parliament. He dreams merely of a democratic and developed Tunisia whose citizens “do not eat from the garbage.”