Tunisia: The Day After

The word being used today on Al Jazeera is muhasaba, or 'holding to account.' With Tunisia's former dictator now in Saudi Arabia, the subject has turned to how the Tunisian people can find justice, and hold Ben Ali responsible for the crimes that he has committed. Arab TV networks are abuzz with discussion of whether or not to bring Tunisia's strongman to trial. Ben Ali's family is thought to have stolen large sums from the state, and there are reports that France is attempting to prevent "suspicious movement" of his assets. BBC has some good coverage of recent events here.

As for the goings-on of the former dictator, a Saudi guest on Al Jazeera notes that while Ben Ali has been allowed into Saudi Arabia, he is essentially under house arrest. He is not being allowed to speak publicly, nor to communicate by phone with his associates. Perhaps hoping to defer criticisms that they are sheltering an unsavory autocrat, Saudi officials announced publicly today that they "stand behind the Tunisian people." Meanwhile, there were other interesting developments under way this morning. Rachid Ghannouchi, the head of the banned Islamist Renaissance Party, proclaimed on Al Jazeera today that he and other party leaders are planning on returning to Tunisia to participate in the formation of a new government. Ghannouchi had previously been living in exile, and his Al Nahda Party has been banned since the early 1990s.

It is clear that the Tunisians have set quite a precedent, sending a clear message that the Arab public need not settle for autocrats any longer. But it is also true that they haven't yet finished the job. How -- or if -- they bring Ben Ali to account for his crimes is a key question. Or will he be allowed to get away with what he has done? Trying an Arab dictator in a court of law would send a powerful message to other regimes. And there is the other burning question of who takes over from here, and what kind of government emerges in the subsequent period. It is one thing to bring down a dictator, and another thing to usher in a representative, democratic system. Hopefully Tunisia will not go the way of Ukraine. Or Lebanon, for that matter, whose democratic uprising in 2005 resulted in governmental paralysis and sectarian conflict that continues to this day.

Here's to hoping that the Tunisians can finish the job they started.