Ben Ali behaving as the Buffoon next to Sarkozy and his Italian wife.
The United States State Department feigned concern over transparency in the recent Tunisian elections – which returned to power for a fifth term the 73-year-old Ben Ali who has be in office for 22-years and fiercely repressed dissent.
A State Department spokesman stated, “We were concerned about the recent elections. The government of Tunisia did not allow international election monitoring. We are not aware that permission was granted to any credible independent observers.”
He added, “We will continue to press for political reform and respect for human rights.”
Naturally, the Tunisian government dismissed such words: “This important electoral event was followed by 31 independent and credible figures, including particularly ministers, MPs, former ambassadors and representatives of civil society.” Of course one can image how honest Ben Ali party MPs are.
The Tunisian forieng ministry stated that observers from some 23 countries, a lot European, visited polling sites.
The State Departments words are empty for two reasons: 1) the United States does not now nor ever cared about the degree of freedom in Tunisia because Tunisia is a client of the United States and as long as Arab regimes are submissive the United States turns a blind eye to their repressive nature. 2) while there are many things to criticize about the Ben Ali regime, I doubt tampering took place at the polls. Ben Ali wins because there is no opposition. Because opposing Tunisians do not bother to vote because there is no one to vote for, and the 2 million party members are the ones who turn up at the polls more or less.
So when Ben Ali states that Ben Ali got 90% of the vote, he probably did get 90% of the vote.
He got 99% of the vote in the 1990s. I did not recall the United States expressing concern there, but somehow 90% wakes them up. Ben Ali must have done or said something that upset the United States for the State Department to all of sudden care about electoral honest in Tunisia. Stop with the empty words.
