Smooth transition of the system in Ben Ali's hometown of former president

Hammam Sousse (Tunisia) Special Envoy - In the middle of the roundabout at the entrance to Hammam Sousse (north-east of Tunisia), a young soldier sleeps quietly, sitting on a plastic chair. The noise of cars, yet many in the late morning, do not mind. That of snipers firing tear gas and either: there is none.

January 14 already, the day of the fall of President, the hometown of El-Zein Ali AbidineBen remained amazingly calm. None of the 37,000 inhabitants of this town in the Sahel has cried her great man. Several dozen have even walked the streets, history this Friday, and have redone, January 19, to proclaim their rejection of the system Ben Ali and his party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD).

Because, "despite the fall of the dictatorship, its ramifications remain - in the country and in the heads," he recalled, standing on a table lying on the sidewalk, one of the speakers at the rally that preceded the parade. "Half of those demonstrating today were yesterday, members of the RCD.

As was the three quarters of the city," quipped a militant Islamist Nahda party (banned), who willingly gives his name, Mondher Latiri, and discusses policy aloud in the street, with passion. The mayor also gave his name. Better Lahouar Habib, who became the first elected official of Hammam Sousse by the grace of the RCD - he readily admits - agrees to receive the foreign press, something unthinkable even two or three months.

"I leave the door open, I'm all for dialogue," says Mr. Lahouar, 57, gabardine and black tie discreet. An engineer by training, this native of Hammam Sousse living happily in Tunis, working as an executive in a private company, when members of the RCD came looking for him. "They told me they wanted to put myself in the hall I found myself head of RCD list for municipal elections in Hammam Sousse.

What could I do? If I refused, j 've been sent to Gafsa, forced to work there at a lower grade than mine, "said the mayor despite him. Now that President Ben Ali and the RCD party collapses, Habib Lahouar lonely. "Without protection," he insists. Appointed eight months ago, the mayor of Hammam Sousse has not had the time, fortunately for him to make too many enemies.

This is perhaps not the case with city police officers: since January 14, they "stay at home, out of caution," said the elected official. In other municipalities, that of Sidi Bouali, for example, the mayor was unceremoniously deposed by the people. But how to replace the old municipal teams until elections are held? A Hammam Sousse, a temporary committee for defense of the city was created, January 15, to organize the fight against looters.

Beyond security concerns, the temporary committee, "open to all," wants to think about how to "separate RCD administration," said one of its founders, James M'Sallem, also a member of the committee Regional Civil Defense in the region of Sousse and president of the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH) of Sousse.

"We're not there to serve the interest of a group or a political color," repeats the second of its founders, Moez Halloul. The idea is to "double" the council RCD, to attend its meetings so as to "influence the management of city affairs" and to "prevent irregularities are hidden from the Hammamiens.

The commission has "no electoral legitimacy, it is true, admits M'Sallem, but it is popular and that is why we agreed to listen lamina. A meeting room, located in downtown, has been given to its members. "Initially, the mayor was ready to give us the room, now empty, the cell of the RCD.

But we refused, we did not like it," said the third founder, Abdessalem Jegham. Irregularities in the management of the city, there was, of course. The system was made for this. It is due to looting, almost surgical, as they are limited to date, the only real brothers and sisters in the family of former president, that the locals have discovered the extent of its wealth.

A dozen houses and warehouses were well drained. An agreement was reached with the looters return these buildings to the public domain, "it demanded - and obtained almost ... - that nothing is destroyed or burnt down," explained the committee members. Mayor does not deny: the essence of these discussions, a sense of dialogue requires, take place in his office ...

The post-Ben Ali has really begun. Catherine Simon Article published in the edition of 21.01.11

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