Perspectivas / Perspectives

Tunisia is often heralded as the sole success story to come out of the 2011 Arab uprisings, insomuch as it is the only country that established a democratic government in their wake. In a 2017 study conducted by Freedom House, Tunisia was the only country in the Middle East and North Africa ranked as “free.” But the relative success of Tunisia’s transition does not mean that the process has been an easy one. 

“If you ask many Tunisians what has made the difference in holding together the fabric of their democracy, they will say civil society,” writes Sarah Yerkes, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Under the repressive regime of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, space for civic engagement was practically nonexistent. After the Arab Spring, thousands of civil society organizations (CSOs) formed to help transform Tunisia into the most promising emerging democracy in the Middle East by encouraging citizen participation and by holding the government accountable. However, Yerkes notes freedom of civic space is now at stake due to a restrictive law adopted by parliament on July 27, 2018.

The legislation, entitled Law 30 of 2018, would require CSOs to register for government oversight, purportedly to combat money laundering and terror financing. While these concerns are legitimate, the pre-existing “Decree 88” already provides legislation to address anti-money laundering and terror financing—without the type of stringent oversight that Law 30 would enact.

Los tories arremeten contra Boris Johnson por sus comentarios sobre el burka 

 Londres, Ago.13.– Con el Brexit asomando a la vuelta de la esquina, y con la amenaza del 'no deal' rondando con igual peligro por Bruselas y por Londres, los dos principales partidos de Reino Unido se han encontrado en mitad del verano con que viven una situación tensa con dos de las comunidades religiosas con más presencia dentro de la sociedad británica. Los conservadores tienen un frente abierto con los musulmanes por las palabras de Boris Johnson la semana pasada comparando a las mujeres que llevan burka con "buzones de correos" o "atracadores de bancos", mientras que los laboristas de Jeremy Corbyn llevan meses sin ser capaces de atajar unas acusaciones de antisemitismo que se han recrudecido durante este fin de semana.

El domingo el periódico 'The Independent' publicaba una encuesta en relación con la visita en 2014 del líder laborista a la tumba de los responsables de los atentados contra atletas israelíes en 1972 asegurando que, si bien los entrevistados no consideraban en su mayoría que el partido fuese antisemita, sí que pensaban que no se había manejado bien la situación.