TUNIS: Veteran Tunisian politician Ahmed Mestiri said on Wednesday he hoped to head a "council of wise men" which would be established to guide Tunisia to democracy from the authoritarian state it was under its ousted leader. Mestiri said he and two other figures from the era of post-colonial independence leader Habib Bourguiba — Ahmed Ben Saleh and Moustafa Elfilali — initiated the idea of a council to stop any chance of former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali exploiting continuing protests and strikes to stage a comeback. "The council would protect the revolt that broke out spontaneously. The time has come for the process to be structured," said Mestiri, who was a grandee of Bourguiba's Destour party before breaking with him in the 1980s. "When it's created I'll put myself forward to be chairman of it," the 80-year-old said in an interview at his home in Tunis. Seen as a potential consensus figure acceptable to groups across the political spectrum, Mestiri said the council would include figures from Tunisia's powerful trade union, the bar association, civil society groups and political parties. But its final composition and remit had not yet been finalized. The government has said new elections will take place within six months but Mestiri said it was not clear if that would be long enough to organize them. "We are afraid for the future. It could suffer a setback because of the chaos and institutions could be affected. There are enemies inside and outside the country who are working together to bring back Ben Ali's unjust rule," Mestiri said. The army fought with militias loyal to Ben Ali in the days after he fled to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14. Many fear protests on the streets which aim to purge the government of Ben Ali loyalists are being exploited by cells of Ben Ali supporters, maybe with backing from countries opposed to Tunisia's democratic experiment. Arab and Western governments offered years of backing to Ben Ali's rule, seen as a bulwark against Islamist groups. Tunisia was cited in Western capitals as an Arab economic success story, despite the extensive security and intelligence apparatus employed by the state to monitor the population. Army taking back seat Mestiri said he was sure the army wanted to remain in the background ensuring the path to free elections. Army chief Rachid Ammar appealed to protesters to go home this week, saying the army would "protect the revolution" but warning that the protests were creating a dangerous vacuum. "For sure, we appreciate the army's role so far in ousting Ben Ali and forcing him to leave and flee. The army stood up to protect citizens," Mestiri said. "The army has no intention for a coup. We have faith in the army not to go beyond its role ... in a modern democratic state." Under Ben Ali, the Islamist Ennahda party had been banned and hundreds of its followers were jailed or fled overseas. Mestiri said the Islamists were welcome, criticizing Western governments for encouraging their marginalisation over the years. He said Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi was a modern Islamist along the lines of Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan. "They can't be just accused of terrorism. What are we asking for — a Spanish Inquisition? Or to find out what's in their hearts?" he said. "(Islamists) are there in Algeria. Egypt has the Muslim Brotherhood. In Kuwait and Jordan they are in parliament. And Palestine." But, he said: "We in Tunisia have red lines that can't be crossed. I personally created the personal status law and established women's freedom with Bourguiba in 1956." Ben Ali's suppression of Islamist politics was accompanied by secularist laws and regulations which discouraged religion. Mestiri held out the possibility that Mohamed Ghannouchi, a minister in a number of Ben Ali governments, could survive as prime minister heading the interim government. Ghannouchi has been a lightning rod for protesters demanding a complete change of the old guard and the ditching of all figures from Ben Ali's ruling party, the RCD — a party the former president created out of Bourguiba's Destour after Ben Ali had pushed Bourguiba out of the presidency in 1987. "I've nothing personal against him," Mestiri said of the prime minister. "He's a decent person. He's a high official inside the circle of administration. But his recent past means the people are not giving him their complete trust." "In our effort to return to the arena, we were keen for him to be a link to the existing system who we can help to make sure the change from dictatorship is done in a civilized manner."
