Tunisians divided on government\'s performance

The head of the Democratic Bloc in the Tunisian Constituent Assembly, Mohammed al-Hamedi, told Arabstoday he thought the Tunisian government was not acting firmly enough towards those who were putting the country\'s core ideals in jeopardy. \"The government has been complacent towards certain trials implemented to halt extreme violent ideas, which is considered a threat to democratic transition,\" said al-Hamedi. However the political observer, Rachid Lijrai, offered a differing view: \"Everybody knows about the plot prepared against the government by the opposition, who are concentrating their efforts in criticising the government\'s performance, without offering any alternatives.\" Arabstoday held a survey marking a hundred days since the present government came to power. In it the Tunisian people were divided about how they viewed the government\'s performance, as some of them thought  that it had clearly failed in addressing the main issues of the transitional period, while others thought it was relatively successful, taking into account the efforts levied against it to fail. Lotfi al-Tonssi, an employer, agreed with Lijrai, saying: \"It is unfair to assess the governments performance after such a short period, taking into account the catastrophic conditions it inherited from the former regime,\" adding: \"What has been achieved by the government is good, but the controversies surrounding it diminish its success. However this is to be expected after many years of suppression and totalitarian rule.\" A web blogger earlier wrote on the pro-government website \"The Hidden Facts\": \"It is clear that the government\'s responsibilities are not easy to bear, although there are a lot of positives to be mentioned, such as its success in reaching some important funding deals with our political partners, particularly Turkey, Qatar, and the EU. This factor, along with a $100 million donation from the US, as well as the cancellation of Tunisia\'s debt to Germany, which was converted to investments, shows progress is being made\". On the other end of the debate, many political activists say that \"the government didn\'t achieve anything notable to be mentioned, as in fact, living conditions are getting worse\". This opinion was expressed in a statement issued by \"The Public Front of January 14\", that included: \"The government\'s performance didn\'t match what it had promised us, as well as ignoring the revolution\'s goals and creating minor conflicts to distract people from the major issues.\" The statement added: \"The social conditions are getting worse, as unemployment is spreading, the financial ability of the middle and lower classes is getting weaker, while the government doesn\'t have an economic policy that can achieve the people\'s ambitions. Instead, it has adopted the same old policies of the former regime, particularly by raising the county\'s debt, which threats to push Tunisia to fall under the control of colonial powers.\" The political commentator, Mohammed Lassad Lidreadi echoed the statements: \"The government failed in gaining the people\'s trust, as it seems like it doesn\'t have full control either its internal issues or the main areas that it is supposed to deal with.\" Lidreadi explained that the failure was due to \"the lack of experience of the cabinet members, who were chosen for their political affiliations rather than their efficiency\", and called for exchanging some cabinet members with \"qualified independent figures that can offer the changes needed to move forward\". Meanwhile, the Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, has admitted that his government\'s efforts were not visible to theTunisian people, saying it was due to \"people’s high demands, as well as the fact that things are morecomplicated than most people are aware of\". Jebali said in an interview with an Arab TV channel: \"The youth\'s expectations have no limit, which in turn will need extraordinary efforts to be achieved and felt by the people\". Jebali claimed that his government had done \"good work concerning certain issues\", while he admitted that \"this work is still not affecting people\'s lives\".