Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, Spiegel interview
Jebali: That way of thinking assumes that revolutions must follow the same pattern -- more or less like the French or October Revolutions, with lots of bloodshed, endless rage and thousands of dead. I don't share this view. The world has developed past this and the dictators are different, as are the people who rise up against them.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The Tunisian people have been protesting a lot lately; almost daily, groups protest unemployment and the poor economic situation. They are against your policies, not against a despot.
Jebali: I would be a fool if I denied the immense economic problems in our country. In addition to the political oppression and mismanagement, this was a main motivation for the revolution. We'll need many years to overcome the inequality between different regions and social strata. Until then, everyone has the right to hold us accountable for our failures.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: That sounds good in theory, but at some point you, too, will be driven out by the angry masses.
Jebali: Every government would have these problems. What's new is that every citizen can express their feelings on the street. At the political level, we have achieved a lot: free elections, pluralism and democracy. The point now is to use this political success to solve economic problems.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,821144,00.html
