Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

Social Science Forum 2012) Similar polls were also conducted in April 2011 and August
2011, and views of the army have remained relatively consistent over this period. 35 This
faith in the army contrasts sharply with the cautious attitude Tunisians have developed
towards the security sector in general (31% express confidence, 31% express distrust),
and the current governing coalition in the Constituent Assembly (25% express
confidence, 34% express distrust). The institution of the Tunisian military has no peers
in the eyes of the population.
However, this confidence in the Tunisian military is based on the perception that
the army has no desire for greater political power, and that it continues to discharge its
duties in as apolitical a fashion as possible. Throughout the numerous interviews
conducted in Tunis at the end of January 2012, no one anywhere on the political spectrum
expressed any interest in seeing the army take a more active role in the administration of
the country. Tunisians trust the military far more than the civilian government, but they
much prefer to see the latter institution work through its mistakes without military
guidance.
While this view is to be expected from supporters of Ennahdha and other parties
that belong to the current governing coalition, the same view was expressed just as
strongly by politicians and activists that identify with the secular left. Although
Tunisians often speak of Turkey as a developmental model to follow, there appears to be
no appetite for the Tunisian military to act as a guardian of Bourguiba-style secularism,
as the Turkish military has been generally seen as defending the modernizing, secular
legacy of Ataturk. Neither is this commitment to civilian control of the military purely
abstract. Salafist groups have exploited the security vacuum in Tunisia on numerous
occasions to agitate for a fundamentalist vision of Islam that is clearly worrying to many
members of the secular elite. Nonetheless, all parties appear to recognize that enforcing
the law against the salafists is the proper role of the elected government, and no figure we
spoke with felt the army should intervene to crack down on the salafists. The Army, for
its part, appears to have no desire to become involved in such a fraught political dispute.
35 In April 2011, 82% of Tunisians expressed confidence in the army, as did 66% of Tunisians in
August 2011. (Applied Social Science Forum 2012)
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