Tunisia facing surge in free expression
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Mohamed Ali Nafti Tunisian ambassador to Korea
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Tunisian Ambassador to Korea Mohamed Ali Nafti said that he found a more distinct change in the media industry than any other sectors after the Arab Spring.
“Freedom of expression is one of the areas that has seen a tremendous change after the revolution which began in December 2010 in Tunisia,” the envoy said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Before he came to Korea in November 2012 to serve as Tunisian ambassador, Nafti was responsible for handling national and foreign media as the director of the information and communication division of the foreign ministry.
“It was not so easy for me to deal with the new mentality in an era of democracy and liberty,” he admitted.
His remarks were construed as meaning that the Arab Spring gave Tunisian journalists free access to information and, as a result, he was faced with a challenging work environment because of demanding reporters.
He claimed that “the peaceful, spontaneous revolution,” which led to the ouster of then authoritarian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, has paved the way for setting new relations between the regime and people in his country.
Now, he said, there are signs that the North African country has been politically stabilized, even though economic and social challenges have yet to be tackled.
“We successfully adopted the new constitution guaranteeing the separation of the legislative, administrative and judicial powers, along with a set of democratic elements. We also have a neutral government that will lead the nation until new leaders are elected in the elections later this year,” Nafti said.
Experts say Tunisia is a successful Arab Spring country in that the nation is back to normal three years after the ouster of the authoritarian regime. Political stability in Tunisia stands in a stark contrast with other Arab Spring countries.
Militant group-led violent attacks have continued in countries like Libya and Egypt. Terrorism rose in Tunisia as well after the revolution, but experts say Tunisian authorities successfully controlled it.
Nafti said that Tunisia has a long tradition of reaching a political consensus and this probably explains how the country went back to normal after a series of protests years ago.
“We adopted the constitution in 1862 and then there have been many amendments in the following decades (to meet the general public’s demand for democracy),” he said.
The envoy said his country now looks for support from the international community to sustain political stability and ease economic woes.
He encouraged Korean companies to invest in Tunisia while touting his country as a tourist hot spot for Koreans.
“I hope that direct flights between Korea and Tunisia can be established in the near future so that more Koreans can discover the beauty of Tunisia,” he said.
As ambassador, Nafti said, he is very much interested in the way Korea achieved economic growth over the six decades after the Korean War (1950-53).
“I think that the Miracle on the Han River is the combined result of Koreans’ spirit of innovation and sincere collective efforts to make a difference. I found the spirit of innovation everywhere in Korea. Not only science and information technology, but also the cultural sector — such as K-pop and Korean dramas — demonstrate this spirit,” he said.