Tawfiq Ben Brik is a journalist, writer, philosopher, politician and rebel. He is bold to the point of insolence and liberated to the extent of being a mess. He is known for his severe critique of former President Ben Ali and continues until today his declared war against the ruling Ennahda party in Tunisia.

He rejects religious governments for being repressive and anti-revolution and accuses developed countries of seeking to devote backwardness and chaos in the Arab world, where he is popular.

Tawfiq Ben Brik is a journalist, writer, philosopher, politician and rebel. He is bold to the point of insolence and liberated to the extent of being a mess. He is known for his severe critique of former President Ben Ali and continues until today his declared war against the ruling Ennahda party in Tunisia.

He rejects religious governments for being repressive and anti-revolution and accuses developed countries of seeking to devote backwardness and chaos in the Arab world, where he is popular.

Mr. Ben Brik, please define your favorite character. Is it Tawfiq the journalist, left-wing opponent or rebellious writer?

I am a journalist and I am proud of it. I only want to be attributed to this profession. I can write in both Arabic and French and my writings were translated into many languages and introduced to the most famous writers in the world like Edward Said. I am interested in famous global novelists such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

But you pay a lot of attention to political affairs and criticize politicians. Would that not deem you an opponent?

As I said, I am a journalist and a real journalist’s role is to criticize the authority. I believe the press’ role is to scrutinize the authority as it is not a pacifist career and it’s not meant to praise or glorify politicians. It is an on-going revolution, opposition, boldness and freedom.

Thus, I attack the authority whether hidden, visible, financial or religious. I am not against politicians simply because we do not have ones in Tunisia.

Would you please elaborate on the last point?

I mean we have neither politics nor politicians. Politics requires knowledge and interest in public affairs, but currently we do not see any knowledge about or interest in public affairs in Tunisia. German philosopher Nietzsche defined the politician as one who has all the means of knowledge and Plato said, “He who is not an engineer would not join us.”

Politics is not arbitrary work. It is art, knowledge and results, all combined. Therefore, the politician who does not achieve results, convinces and has interest in public affairs and has to leave politics, which is the art of the possible and is basically pragmatic.

Those who claim today that they engage in politics in Tunisia have not achieved anything tangible results for the people, public affair and Tunisia in general. Thus said, they are not politicians and there is no real political action in Tunisia, but merely a range of opportunists and phonies.

Is your judgment not cruel, taking into consideration that these politicians were elected by the people?

I am not directing harsh judgments. The only judge is the people themselves. The people expressed, refused, rebelled and a week later, protested against election results. Protests are still on-going throughout the country as politicians do not respond to the people’s demands.

I judge reality as a realist and a man of my profession. I was always close to the popular movements and reported people’s concerns in Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine, Jendouba, Kef, Sfax, Siliana and other poor and marginalized cities where the revolution first erupted.

Why do you oppose religious governments? Do they not reflect the identity and faith of the people?

(Laughing) This is not a government. I call it an Ennahda community, which exploits the people’s simplicity and immaturity to play the elections game. Ennahda requested support from abroad in exchange for implementing agendas of the rich north (France and the United States) and interests of other countries (Arab Gulf and Turkey). Consequently, they gained a foreign sponsorship and used an emotional retarded discourse based on religion, identity and the illusion that God is in danger.

I am against religious governments in general and this one in particular, for its history has always been associated with repression, muzzling and oppression of creativity. These governments are actually anti-revolution invented by the rich north to eliminate any liberal and progressive movement.

But those people, of whose knowledge you are skeptical, are in the process of writing a new Constitution for the revolution.

Constitutions are formulated by geniuses, intellectuals, jurists, philosophers, adventurers and travelers, not ignorant and inexperienced people.

The U.S. Constitution, for example, was written by three people (Washington, Jefferson and Lafayette). They were from the elite and their views were progressive and not confined to partisan affiliations. As for the French Constitution, General de Gaulle commissioned the intellectual Deere to develop the features of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. Constitutions must be written by intellectuals or else they lose their value and purpose.

Where is the opposition in all this?

The opposition itself still lives in the past. It is separated from the people and the only opponent left in Tunisia, I believe, is the people. The opposition parties are only concerned with their conflict against Ennahda regardless of the demands of the poor and marginalized people.

The only body supporting the people today is the Labor Union, but its support remains modest due to being under repeated defamation and assaults directed to its headquarters and affiliates all over the country. Thus, it constantly negotiates with and even succumbs to the authority.

Why are you so pessimistic?

I am not pessimistic nor am I optimistic. I am a realist. In 2009, I wrote that we live post Ben Ali under his same regime and today I can confidently say we live post Ennahda community under their rule. Days will prove me right since all circumstances are against them and even those who sympathized with them uncovered their reality. Ennahda came as a deadly poison to the revolution, but I am confident that the great Tunisian people will find the right antidote to eliminate it.

Under Ben Ali, you suffered from the persecution of the political police. Are you still under any pressure?

The police have not changed and still use the same old practices. I believe the police are the enemy of the people. One philosopher went so far to say, “He who eats a policeman will enter paradise.” It is a metaphor reflecting the relationship between the citizen and the police.

I am surprised at some of the opposition parties who promote the presence of a parallel police. In fact, political and parallel police are the exact same concept.

You are accused of having relations with the French intelligence.

(Laughs cynically) This is nonsense advocated by Ben Ali and his followers and is promoted today by the new regime. For information only, I was targeted by the French intelligence.

When I reached Charles de Gaulle Airport International, there was always a French intelligence agent available to interrogate me about my destination, place of stay and the reason for my visit to France. This intelligence, in coordination with Ben Ali’s regime, fabricated a malicious charge of which the French courts acquitted me in 2011.

Why, in your opinion, are you monitored at home and abroad?

Because, as was written in Le Monde, “Ben Brik is talented and has a sublime style, but he is a tramp.” Thus, I combine all contradictions and refuse to commit to protocols or offer compliments. I say what I feel and believe, anytime to anyone.

I do not compliment nor do I succumb to anyone and hence am feared. I am aware of my target, which is to unveil the hidden hands that manipulate the political game and attack all repressive practices.

Why do powerful nations support these new governments in your opinion?

It is because they support an underdeveloped Arab world characterized by chaos and poverty and easy to control governments that would facilitate achieving their greedy ambitions in the region.

When Rachid Ghannouchi, head of Ennahda Movement, went to Washington, accompanied by the Qatari Foreign Minister, they asked him for two things: normalization of relations with Israel and selling or privatizating the remaining properties of the Tunisian state including facilities and lands. He accepted their dictations only to brag about his objection to them under the pretext that the Tunisian people would not allow it. Ben Ali also could not do that. Maybe that is why they dropped him from their accounts.

How do you perceive the coming elections?

If they were held today, I bet Ennahda would not win.