When Hamadi Jebali, Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, announced in December 2011, the composition of his 72-member interim government, Foreign Minister Rafik Ben Abdessalem Bouchlaka said: “Jebali’s government is the most powerful government in the history of the country.”

The foreign minister at the time was right even if he didn’t know it. No former Tunisian government, in the last 50 years has made as many mistakes as those committed by the Jebali and the Larayedh governments in less than two years.

When Hamadi Jebali, Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, announced in December 2011, the composition of his 72-member interim government, Foreign Minister Rafik Ben Abdessalem Bouchlaka said: “Jebali’s government is the most powerful government in the history of the country.”

The foreign minister at the time was right even if he didn’t know it. No former Tunisian government, in the last 50 years has made as many mistakes as those committed by the Jebali and the Larayedh governments in less than two years.

For starters, Abdessalem Bouchlaka appeared on state television to announce that he had informed the Syrian ambassador that he should leave Tunisia and called the move “a victory for the Syrian revolution.” 

Too bad the minister had not noticed that the Syrian ambassador had already left Tunisia months before being expelled and that the Syrian diplomatic mission in Tunisia had already been reduced to the level of Chargé d’Affaires.  That bit of information apparently had not reached the members of the interim government either, who found themselves in a very embarrassing situation when they discovered their blunder.

The mistakes continue

The interim government, under the guidance of the presidency, decided to launch an initiative to coordinate five fundamental freedoms between Tunisia and other Maghreb countries (freedom of movement, residency, work, investment and participation in municipal elections) but failed to coordinate with these countries and eventually found itself obliged to abandon the decision, which was announced by Abdullah Triki, Secretary of State for Arab and African Affairs.

The pitfalls of the second interim government, headed by Jebali, and which were committed in his first one hundred days, did not create a crisis like the one that resulted from handing over the former Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi on May 15, 2012 to the Libyan authorities. 

The government handed over Mahmoudi to the Libyan authorities without consulting President Moncef Marzouki.  The decision taken by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali at that time “provoked” President Marzouki, the interim president, who accused Prime Minister Jebali of “exceeding his powers by taking a unilateral decision without consulting me and without my consent”.

 This marked the start of the worst crisis experienced by the ruling coalition. The Congress Party for the Republic (one of the pillars of the troika government and the party of President Marzouki) insinuated that the decision to hand over al-Baghdadi “will have serious repercussions on the coalition.”

The party representatives in the National Constituent Assembly started to prepare a censure list against Jebali and insinuated that they would withdraw their votes of confidence in him.  However, the party retreated after reaching a “political deal” and its victim was the governor of the central bank who was sacked— the point going to Moncef Marzouki .

But the real deal was the one announced after the end of this political crisis in the country. It was the decision taken by the Libyan government to grant Tunisia an amount of US $200 million to help the country advance its economy, which was considered “the price for handing over al-Baghdadi.”

Corruption and infidelity

 The Baghdadi Mahmudi crisis continued to raise controversy in Tunisia and only ended when a new crisis was created by the second interim government. Tactless mistakes started to surface again when the name Rafik Ben Abdessalem Bouchlaka occupied more and more space in the news because of his involvement in the “Sheratongate” and when he became accused of corruption and infidelity according to documents published by blogger Olfa Riahi.

The documents published by the blog contained corruption and waste of public money accusations against the former minister. The documents show that Bouchlaka spent taxpayer money on a lavish vacation in a very luxurious Sheraton Hotel, accompanied by a woman with whom he allegedly had an intimate relationship.

While trying to deny the charge of infidelity, Rafik Ben Abdessalem Bouchlaka’s name was all over documents proving that he had transferred an amount of 1 million dinars (US $607,000)— originally granted to Tunisia from China— to his own account and he spent the money on himself and a group of his close associates. This tactless mistake led to Rafik Ben Abdessalem Bouchlaka’s dismissal.

Interior disasters

Interior Minister Ali Larayedh practically included mistake-making in his job description. His security negligence dates back to September 2012 when protesters stormed the US embassy. Larayedh embarrassingly said that “we have waited for those protesting the US movie against Prophet Muhammad to come from the front side but they came from behind.” Ever since then, Tunisians have made many jokes about this statement. 

Before that incident, Ali Larayedh, as the minister of interior, used force to stop protests on September 12, 2012. Security forces deployed a group of unidentified men who attacked political party leaders and members of the constituent assembly. One day after these events, it became evident that these anonymous groups were members of the controversial Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution, associated with the Ennahda Movement.   

In October 2012, Larayedh ordered the use of live bullets to confront protesters in the Siliana province.  More than 200 people were wounded in two days; tens of them were suffered eye injuries because of exposure to lead spray. Larayedh justified this by merely saying: “We did not know that it was dangerous.”

Security failure and two assassinations

If the tactless mistakes of the two interim governments occupy the second rank, the security failure, unchallenged, occupies the first rank. The governments of Hamadi Jebali and his “brother” Ali Larayedh have witnessed two assassinations that led to the death of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi –two prominent opponents of the Ennahda Movement.

Prime Minister Ali Larayedh was the first to be accused of responsibility in the assassination and was regarded as being “involved” in the assassination, especially after disclosing a letter sent by the CIA warning that Mohammed Brahmi would be targeted, 12 days before his assassination.

The tactless mistakes of the government were not only limited to political issues.  A young woman, who was raped by the police, was charged of indecency. Moreover, the government underplayed the rape of a three-year-old girl at her daycare center.

The two interim governments underplayed the importance of these mistakes and considered any person who blames them for the mistakes as a conspirator looking to topple the government that had been legitimately elected.

Overview of failure:

  • February 2012:  The Tunisian government announces its decision to expel the Syrian ambassador from Tunisia, even though he had already left the
  • March 2010: The launch of the five freedoms between the Maghreb countries without coordination with the other countries.
  • March 2012: The foreign minister accused of wasting public money.
  • April 2012:  The Ali Larayedh government uses excessive force to suppress peaceful demonstrators on the occasion of Martyrs Day and Ennahda militias participate in the repression of demonstrators.
  • May 2012: The Tunisian government hands over former Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi to the Libyan government against a financial deal.
  • June 2012: Security negligence in dealing with the extremism file and the delay in categorizing Ansar al-Sharia as a terrorist organization after its involvement in armed operations.
  • September 2012:    Instituting legal proceedings against a woman raped by police on “indecency charges.”
  • November 2012:  The use of live bullets against demonstrators in the Siliana province wounding 17 young men in the eyes, under a tough stance by the interim government who refused to respond to the demands calling for the sacking of the governor.
  • December 2012:  The storming of the US embassy by protesters, mostly members of the Salafist movement, and killing four  of them.
  • January 2013: The mishandling of a child rape file in a kindergarten in La Marsa suburb by the Ministry of Women and accusing the girl’s family of raping her.
  • February 2013:  The assassination of Chokri Belaid in front of his hotel. 
  • July 2013: The assassination of Mohamed Brahmi in front of his house with the same weapon.
  •  September 2013: Leaked documents: The government knew about plans to assassinate Brahmi and received a warning from the CIA but did not take any action.
  • September 2013:  Commission to uncover the truth about Brahmi’s and Belaid’s assassination: The government neglected warnings and its negligence reaches the level of complicity in preventing the assassination of Chokri Belaid.