Monica Marks

During 2013's Bardo Crisis, Essebsi acted as both a saboteur & saviour of Tunisian democracy. Though his demands endangered the transition, he later engaged in constructive dialogue w Ghannouchi, helping to claw Tunisia back from the brink of disaster.

In Aug '13 the opposing camps leaders, Essebsi & Ghannouchi, met secretly in Paris. Their tense, mutually suspicious discussion breached the impasse & led to further talks, paving the way for Tunisia's Nobel Prize-winning National Dialogue to help resolve the impasse.

In run-up to Tunisia's 2013 Bardo Crisis, Essebsi instigated dangerous calls to dissolve the country's Constituent Assembly w/o plans for a representative gov to replace it. Bardo swelled into a terrible impasse, nearly toppling transition. But in Aug '13 a breakthrough emerged

To me, Essebsi's almost Shakespearean incapacity to prevent his son from domineering & arguably destroying Nidaa (which still exists but is riven into pieces & polling vv low) represents the greatest mystery of his tenure. Did Essebsi not see Nidaa through the lens of his legacy?

After Essebsi became president, the vigor he'd plowed into pre-2015 politicking appeared rarely (eg: his years-long pursuit of 2017's Reconciliation Law). Meanwhile, on truly crucial matters (forming Constitutional Court, Nidaa collapse etc) he often seemed absent from the helm.

As president, Essebsi proved to be far less effective than his supporters had hoped & far less authoritarian than his critics had often feared. Tunisia's transition neither sank nor swam under his tenure, but chronically choked & sputtered- rudderless, wounded, yet still afloat.

Tunisia's president, Essebsi, has died. He leaves a profoundly mixed legacy, having done much to both shepherd & sabotage Tunisia's transition. As president, he pursued soft resoration weakly, generally favouring impunity over democratic reform while his party, Nidaa, crumbled.

Thanks @MiddleEastInst & American Tunisian Association for hosting great panel today. An exciting kick-off to their Tunisia talks series.https://twitter.com/MiddleEastInst/status/1055511854569717762 …

Rhodes Scholar & Oxford grad here. I'll happily volunteer to help any US student who faces disciplinary pushback for peaceful walkout protests write an excellent college/ scholarship application essay. We all deserve to learn & to teach in safety. #MarchForOurLives #NeverAgain