Tunisian President Zine Ben Ali (right) with presidential baton. Who will he pass it on to? His wife Leila (left) says 'pass it to me, douchebag'! Last time I left you in Tunisia Lane, the ambitious Leila Ben Ali, missus to Tunisia's president for almost a quarter of a century, Zine Ben Ali, had been subject to much gossip and scandal by the US embassy, involving Leila, her family and Mrs Palestine Suha Arafat. Well, since then Tunisia has erupted. The people have demonstrated against the endemic corruption, mass unemployment and the bleak future ahead of them if the Ben Alis continue with their reign. Of course, in the benevolent way that they are, the Ben Alis responded first with bullets (60 people have died... but 6 people shot dead in Arizona have had more coverage) and now with a series of rather cosmetic appeasers. First, Ben Ali announced an inquiry into weeding out corruption, which has to be a joke. If he really needs overpaid public officials to tell him where the corruption is, then he really is senile. He could try looking at all of the people around him for starters. How's about that 28 year old son-in-law that has the cruise line and hotels and everything else? Or the darling wife?
But Zine Ben Ali has now said another joke - he won't be recontesting the top spot come presidential elections in 2014. Stand-up must be his thing. Oh well, it was to be expected as then he will be 79 years (and still with jet black hair) by that time, so he would have been on the way out anyway by then. Big question now is who is he going to groom as his successor? I mean, he's not gonna let go to chance. If anything, these demos, lightly described as 'violent clashes' (more like 'massacres', but hey, the West still supports Ben Ali... had 60 been killed in Venezuela though...) show that the 90% support Ben Ali supposedly received at the last 'election' was a joke. So his cronies have known that they need to keep the system going or else they will be quickly shown out. Naturally, that ever-so-successful son-in-law looks like a possible. Keeping it in the family is all the rage these days in these types of systems. North Korea did it (and they're going for round 3 now too!), so did Syria (and they even lowered the minimum age in becoming prez there from 40 to 34... wow, what a coincidence that it matched the exact same age as the late president's son's age), Egypt is heading that way, Azerbaijan did it, and not to be outdone, remember the Bush family in the US?
Move over Alexis Colby, here is Leila Ben Ali, complete shoulder pads, come to take control of Denver Carrington.. erm... Tunisia. 'I shall fire you all on the spot and replace with you with a board who will approve the merger'
But there is someone far more experienced and more cunning who sees that it would be foolish not for to be as le supreme... well, la supreme - Leila Ben Ali herself. I mean, she's been running the country for her benefit most of these years. And she sees no unemployment problem - all her relatives are employed so she's satisfied. So far, she's been keeping quiet, but she has to be up to something. I wonder what Suha in Malta is thinking now? Perhaps how karma is a mean bitch.
Stay tuned... we definitely have not seen the last of this soap opera, otherwise known as the misery that the long suffering Tunisians have had to endure for decades.
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