Dr. Iadh Ben Achour, head of the Tunisian High Council for
Political Reforms and the Achievement of the Goals of the Revolution, has
announced that Tunisia does not need and will not have international monitors
for the elections coming up in July. 
I believe this is a misplaced emphasis on sovereignty and a major  retreat from what the interim
government (including the President and former prime minister) announced
immediately after the revolution. 
Tunisia has never organized free and fair elections in the past, and
most Tunisians will not believe the results of the elections without
international supervision or monitors.

The “sensitivity” about foreign intervention is
totally misplaced in this case.  It
has been used (and abused) by all oppressive governments and regimes to justify
falsifying the elections.  We have
been down this road before, under Ben Ali, Mubarak, Saleh, and the other Arab
dictators.

True “sovereignty” belongs to the people, and the
best way to protect the sovereignty of the people is to make sure that the
elections are free and fair.  Right
now, many in Tunisia do not believe that this interim government is capable of
organizing truly free and fair elections, and are afraid that the elections
will not reflect the will of the people, just like all past elections.

The best way to guard against this is for all Tunisians to
swallow their pride and request “international supervision” of the
elections with the help of the the United Nations, the U.S., the EU, France,
Germany, the Arab League, as well as numerous international non-governmental
organizations that have huge experience and expertise in the field of
monitoring and supervising elections. 
International monitors are the best way, and possibly the only way, to
guarantee that the elections will be free and fair and that everyone will
accept the outcome  — whether they
win or lose.

There are basically three levels of international
involvement in any elections:

Observation allows the international community to send
people to “observe” the elections, while the government controls the
whole process and can limit what the observers can see.  This is the minimum level of
involvement and basically is just ceremonial.  It will do nothing to prevent the government from falsifying
the elections.

Monitoring allows the international community to send people
to “monitor” the elections, which includes being involved in the
design and monitoring of all the phases of the elections process.  The monitors typically have to right to
“watch and advise” on every step of the process, but the final
decision remains with the government. 
This is the medium level of involvement and can make it difficult, but
not impossible, for the government to falsify the elections. 

Supervision allows the international community to supervise
the whole process, and to be involved 
in the design, implementation, and monitoring of all the phases of the
elections process.  This is the
highest level of involvement and basically guarantees that the elections will
be free and fair since the international community and the various NGOs need to
be completely neutral in the whole process.

Given that Tunisia has never organized free and fair
elections in the past, and given that the people of Tunisia have minimum trust
in the institutions of the state and the government (especially the Ministry of
Interior) which are still heavily dominated by former RCD members and
officials, and also given how critical these elections will be to the success
of Tunisia’s transition to a real and genuine democracy, the best way to
guarantee that the elections will be free and fair is to organize them under
international supervision. 

Some Tunisians will object to this idea for fear that
international supervision will amount to “interference” in the
political process or reduction in the sovereignty of Tunisia.  To the contrary, the international
community, especially the United Nations, and tens of international NGO’s have
amassed decades of experience and expertise in designing, implementing, and
monitoring free and fair elections in various countries around the world.  They are much less likely to take sides
or to favor one party against the other, since they are vested in credible and
free elections.

The Tunisian people are rightly worried about the ultimate
success of their peaceful and democratic revolution, and about attempts of the
“old guard” to derail it or steal its fruits.   They also have an understandably
strong sense of pride and ownership of their revolution.  However, the experience of previous
transitions demonstrates that monitoring and other forms of external assistance
can not only be delivered in ways which respect the sovereignty of the host
country, but that experience actually enhances sovereignty by transferring
skills and insights, and boosting the capacity of civil society and other local
actors and institutions. 

The International Forum for Democratic Studies recently
issued a Tunisia working group report, which found that on electoral framework
and administration, “given past sham elections, there is a serious lack of
knowledge and capacity.”  It
is doubtful that such knowledge and capacity can be acquired in the next six
months or year.  That is why we
need to bring thousands of international monitors to guarantee that the
elections will be free and fair. 
Otherwise, I am afraid that the turmoil will continue, and many
Tunisians will not believe the outcome of the elections.

It is crucial that the next elections (to elect the
Constitutional Assembly on July 24) be totally free, fair and credible in the
eyes of all Tunisians.  There has
to be absolutely no doubt about the elections or their outcome, in order for
all Tunisians to continue to believe in their nascent democracy, remain engaged
in the political process, and avoid further instability or turmoil. This is
critical for the success of the democratic revolution and the transition to
democracy in Tunisia.

In light of all this, the Tunisian government and all
Tunisians should appeal for help from the international community in
organizing, implementing, and monitoring the next elections.  In a few years, once democracy is more
established and the institutions of democracy are stronger and more credible,
Tunisia can hopefully organize free and fair elections on its own.

Successful and credible elections can pave the way for real
democracy, and should not be diminished by a misplaced emphasis on
‘sovereignty’.

The writer is president of the Center for the Study of Islam
& Democracy.