Tarak Mekki

Tarak Mekki (طارق المكي), born in 1958, is a Tunisian businessman and political figure. He declared himself as an opponent to the president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and a candidate to his succession. Mr Mekki is one of the few political opponents who have been calling for the immediate end to the Ben Ali regime, and his prosecution for corruption and torture.

Since June 12, 2007, he has been posting his speeches online revealing the foundation of his presidential program. He is calling for the birth of a "Second Tunisian republic" where rights are guaranteed to all Tunisians. According to him, this is the only alternative to the current regime.

Mr Mekki embraces many of Tunisia's first president Habib Bourguiba's foreign policies which call for a pragmatic solution to the Israeli-Palestenian conflict and closer ties with western countries. He presents himself as moderate and quickly distanced himself from other political opponents including Islamists.

Mr Mekki exposes the roots of the spread of the islamic veil which has been taking place in Tunisia. He emphasizes that women have been wearing veils as a mean of silent political protests rather than true religious conviction.Mr Mekki proposes to fight the real roots of Islamic Terrorism and blames Mr Ben Ali's policies for the rise of extremists.

Mr Mekki's party produced a series of political comic sketches called 'Mille et une nuits' (One Thousand and One Nights) in which he redicules president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, his wife Leila Trabelsi-Ben Ali, and the Trabelsi family.

Since June 8, 2008, his speeches have been broadcasted online on various websites including youtube and dailymotion as well as via satellite on Nilesat every Monday evening in Tunisia. Mr Mekki exposes to the Tunisians the corruption of the current president, his family and the defects of the Tunisian Court System.

Mr Mekki's followers include a lot of young Tunisians and online activists, and his message is spreading fast in all corners of Tunisia.

External linksة

* [http://www.dailymotion.com/zebra333/1 dailymotion video]
*fr [http://tunisie2republique.blogspot.com Blog d'information sur l'initiative pour la proclamation de la deuxième république en Tunisie]