“You’Re Gonna Be Special, My Child.”: “You’Re Gonna Be Special, My Child.”

By Ouided Bouchamaoui

The motivation to write this book flowed naturally from the grace of the Nobel Peace Prize, a prize won the hard way by a quartet of organizations determined to unravel an untenable situation in an unbreathable atmosphere. Taking the form of an account of my personal journey leading up to the culmination of the Nobel Prize, the book rightly belongs to the genre of real biographies; nevertheless, it is at the same time a scrupulous testimony, namely mine, on events experienced first-hand during a crucial period of the political scene in Tunisia, where I was fated to play a frontstage role.

So, dear reader, I faithfully offer you my narrative, which is intended to be unadorned and transparent. It reproduces events and situations as they really happened and also corrects a few (inevitable) highly exaggerated clichés, reproduced here and there in newspapers and other media. It is a witness account of an experience lived first-hand taken as I was by the irresistible swirl of the events of that period, along with and among the other actors of history. It represents the sum total of my personal journey up to that point in time where I also highlighted the significant milestones and vicissitudes in my life that had led to shaping my consciousness and helped me to form and grasp my “idea of engagement.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669822738

Ouided Bouchamaoui

Born in Gabes (Tunisia) in 1961, Mrs. Ouided Bouchamaoui is the first woman elected in 2011, to the position of President of UTICA, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts (Confederation of Private employers). UTICA is a Tunisian employers' organization founded in 1947 and represents the leaders of companies in the industrial, commercial, and artisanal sectors. Bouchamaoui is a member of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2015 for her success in the mission that led to the presidential and legislative elections and the ratification of the new constitution in 2014. Since Oslo’s high recognition brought a new breath to the Tunisian Democratic Transition, Mrs. Bouchamaoui undertook the role of Peace Emissary. She traveled the world, to explain the importance of national dialogue, the relevance to export this unprecedented experience, and share this action, which was a long journey marked by paradoxes, difficulties, and the complexity of the moments experienced, intensely and widely, shared with the other members of the quartet. She made the commitment to represent her country Tunisia - a country considered as an exception in the Arab and Muslim region - to tell this fabulous story, qualified by the jury of the Nobel Peace Prize as a "success story." Through her various speeches and interventions, Ouided Bouchamaoui explained how such an experience could generate know-how in dialogue and mediation: by reinventing codes, demanding new ways of acting, and establishing new patterns to think politics in the noble sense of the word, which is the citizen action at the service of the collective interest. After completing her studies, she made several internships in the marketing, management, and international trade departments, in various companies. She then joined Hédi Bouchamaoui & Sons (a company specializing in construction and industry), founded by her father, and affiliated with the Bouchamaoui group. She is now a shareholder and administrator of HBG Holding (Hédi Bouchamaoui Group), focused on the agricultural, agri-food sector, finance, insurance, IT, and distribution sectors. (http://www.hbg-holding.com/en/ )

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Rev. date: 05/10/2022

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

Y OU’RE GONNA BE special, my child is the title chosen by Mrs. Ouided Bouchamaoui for her memoir, a memoir we enjoyed reading before its publication. The phrase is originally her father’s addressing her during her childhood.

Going through this memoir, the reader discovers how true Mr. Bouchamaoui’s prediction was. Thus the reader gradually discovers the portrait of a strong-willed, brave woman, endowed with tremendous ability for innovation and leadership and unshakable self-confidence. Her strong determination to achieve the desired goal is matched only by her capacity to remain steadfast in the face of adversity.

These qualities were Mrs. Bouchamaoui inherited from her father, the late Hedi Bouchamaoui. They were definitely the source of her stellar successes in her responsibilities as a leader and the fruitful initiatives she undertook. In this memoir, the author offers a record of her achievements, thus giving us an account of the success story of a distinguished Tunisian woman who deservedly took over the leadership of a major national organization and contributed with distinction to the success of the National Dialogue that led to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Tunisian Quartet and to Tunisia.

However, the importance of this memoir does not reside in only the narrative of the successes achieved by Ouided Bouchamaoui and her original and impressive initiatives, or in the detailed descriptions of the various tasks and responsibilities she undertook, but also in the fact that it is a living testimony on a critical stage in Tunisia’s recent history. During the days of the revolution and afterward, the nation went through a painful stage of giving birth to a new Tunisia. In those uncertain times, the author of this book did not hesitate to bear the burdens and hardships of leadership, as societal and political conflicts raged on, threatening to plunge the country in strife and eliminate most of the national gains up to that point.

In such a charged climate, becoming the president of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts was by no means an easy achievement for a woman, particularly when a wave of male chauvinism was picking up momentum in the country, denying women access to positions of leadership in national organizations, and thus trampling decades-worth of achievements by our country in gender equity.

What aggravated the situation at that time and fuelled the tension that prevailed in the country after the revolution were the reprehensible practices by the Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution, which sought to effect a change at the level of the leadership of the country’s national organizations by force, and their attempts to lay their hands on these organizations in order to use them to serve specific political agendas. In this tense climate, Ouided Bouchamaoui succeeded to organize and carry out democratic and fair elections for all of the leadership positions inside the institutions and regional structures of the Union of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts, and thus was able to preserve the independence of this long-standing and prestigious national organization and shield it from political disputes.

Since we brought up the topic of national organizations in Tunisia, I should not forgo the opportunity to underline the tremendous role of national organizations in Tunisia. These organizations do not limit themselves to defending the narrow interests of their members but also actively concern themselves with national public affairs. This situation is the result of their leaders’ historic and acute sense of patriotism before and after independence. These organizations actively contributed to liberating the country from colonialism, and then to building the modern national state.

As the author of this book emphasized, this historical role of national organizations, unique to Tunisia, was renewed following the outbreak of the political crisis experienced by the country under the so-called Troika Government, which arose following the assassination of both martyrs Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi. The popular resentment that ensued led to the stoppage of the work of the Constituent Assembly. It was a period when the national political forces joined hands with components of civil society and held a popular and long sit-in in Le Bardo to demand the dissolution of the Troika Government.

As tension continued to rise and with each political camp digging in its heals and hardening its positions, making the looming threat of violence and strife all the more real, it has become crucial, from the standpoint of the nation’s interest, to overcome political cleavages. The solution was to resort to the potential for conciliation and mediation inherent in the role of the national organizations and of the components of civil society in order to defuse an alarming political crisis. It was during this crucial turning historic point that the quartet of national organizations stepped forward and sponsored the National Dialogue. Mrs. Ouided Bouchamaoui was one of the most prominent advocates of this dialogue and a major contributor to the success of its endeavors.

Within the same context, one cannot ignore the various ploys and maneuvers deployed by some political parties, determined to remain in power no matter what, in order to thwart and abort the Quartet’s efforts.

However, and in the end, the strong sense of patriotic duty to save the country from a real disaster prevailed over the narrow interests of the parties. With skill and acumen, the Quartet succeeded in overcoming all obstacles and snatched the approval of the most important parties on a roadmap and its various stages of implementation and its procedures, which were detailed and analyzed in this memoir, including the final approval of the new constitution by the Constituent Assembly, the selection of an independent prime minister, and the holding of legislative and presidential elections that led to the establishment of the new political system of the Second Tunisian Republic.

The success of the efforts of the Tunisian Quartet for the National Dialogue was met by Tunisians with a deep sense of relief and satisfaction. It also forced the admiration of friendly countries and piqued the interest of the international public opinion in this unique experience. This was an opportunity for another initiative by Mrs. Ouided Bouchamaoui, the details of which were described in this memoir, and which culminated in awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2015 to the members of National Dialogue Quartet.

The author gave us in this memoir a vivid rendition of all the stages involved in the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo, a magnificent ceremony that was followed live on the air by millions of spectators around the world. She also succeeded in engaging the reader on an emotional level by imparting her deep sense of pride in her country and in the ability of her countrymen and countrywomen to make history and merit the admiration of the whole world.

Mohamed Ennaceur

Former President of the Republic of Tunisia

Sidi Bou Said, July 20, 2020

PREAMBLE

T HE MOTIVATION TO write this book flowed naturally from the grace of the Nobel Peace Prize, a prize won the hard way by a quartet of organizations determined to unravel an untenable situation in an unbreathable atmosphere. Taking the form of an account of my personal journey leading up to the culmination of the Nobel Prize, the book rightly belongs to the genre of real biographies; nevertheless, it is at the same time a scrupulous testimony, namely mine, on events experienced first-hand during a crucial period of the political scene in Tunisia, where I was fated to play a frontstage role.

So, dear reader, I faithfully offer you my narrative, which is intended to be unadorned and transparent. It reproduces events and situations as they really happened and also corrects a few (inevitable) highly exaggerated clichés reproduced here and there in newspapers and other media. It is a witness account of an experience lived first-hand, taken as I was by the irresistible swirl of the events of that period, along with and among the other actors of history. It represents the sum total of my personal journey up to that point in time where I also highlighted the significant milestones and vicissitudes in my life that had led to shaping my consciousness and helped me to form and grasp my idea of engagement.

My main exploits and victories are the results of the many battles and campaigns waged on several fronts within the context of my responsibilities at the helm of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA). It was on these perilous fields of struggle that I discovered the mysteries of trade unionism, its possibilities, its avatars, and its limits. It was an exciting time for me and, unbeknownst to me, the ordinary person I used to be was morphing into a determined actress on the political scene, a person who accepts her doubts and her flaws along with her certainties.

Mine was a remarkable and painful journey, and how hard the climb to the top and reaching the pinnacle of glory were; but, against all odds, and armed with a tremendous reservoir of inherited morals and acquired values, I undertook the journey driven by an internal fire to do the right thing and ready for battle with its raw clashes and fleeting joys. At every stage, I was, and still am and always will be, full of hope, ready and willing to take up the toughest challenges and face the worst of dangers.

So that the intoxicating escalation and the grueling climb toward the summit of the Nobel heights will not be neglected, forgotten, or trivialized, I submit these confessions to you, the reader, convinced that they would allow you to understand and appreciate the stakes involved in the overwhelming context and circumstances of this, my modest yet perilous journey.

CHAPTER I

A Date with Destiny

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And this path, which looked like a long skeleton, led us

to a land that had only its breath to climb the future.

—René Char (French poet, 1907–1988)

O URS WAS A dawning revolution that exuded a liberating scent of jasmine, but soon it came to a perilous crossing. Still in its infancy and fragile, it stumbled and staggered under the battering blows and sudden gasps of terrorism. But I was on board of its train and fully committed to its journey.

I wasn’t just a passenger, first class or otherwise, comfortably seated and peering across the window at the scenery and clouds whiz by. No, I was at the controls, in the locomotive, in good solid company. United like the fingers of the same hand, my companions and I were anxiously searching for the light that was slow to appear at the end of the tunnel. It was on this train and on this journey that my personal story miraculously, and some would say by necessity, crossed paths with the national story. For a moment, I thought I was living some kind of a fiction; but no, it was real and I had to accept it, fix it in my mind then commit it to writing, bringing out its true nature, beautiful and full of promises, before the strong winds of discord, forgetfulness, and apathy swept away its leaves and flowers.

Write it down and relay the facts while being mindful as much as possible of the trap of idealizing events and adorning them with unnecessary details or memory failures. Yes, a taxing task for memory to be sure.

I have lent my ears, observed, read, reread some more, and cross-referenced as much as possible, and everywhere I turned the word Quartet, a word borrowed from the world of music, slowly crept center stage on the political scene and became its focus thanks to the tremendous work of the four Tunisian national organizations. Finally, in 2015, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee decided to lend its ear not only to the far-off echo of those who were making history but above all, to their music. Ours was not a quartet of four-stringed instruments, as is often the case with musical quartets, but of four voices singing in unison and without a conductor. In time, their performance became the crowning achievement of a laborious and painful journey and experience.

It was the performance of three tenors and a soprano, which ended up winning an exceptional prize in Oslo. It was a textbook case for the historian, an unpublished high-flying score, conscientiously composed day after day, hour after hour, with the inevitable mishaps and the sweat it takes to transcend them. Each note in this music is a victory song and hides an adventure. Even more striking is the fact that, in the beginning, the four voices were dissonant and it took sacrifices, consensus, and transcendence to harmonize them into a score that pleased the demanding ears of aficionados and common folk as well. The end result was definitely worth the journey; the message of peace was transmitted and received and in the most beautiful way. Glorious music to the ear! And audiences around the world burst into applause.

This end result was by no means obvious at the beginning. When the Quartet embarked on its adventure, the country was going through one serious crisis after another and quickly tumbling toward an uncertain and unfortunate destiny. It had lost its political compass and it was like a ship that had lost its controls and commander in the middle of a raging storm, constantly teetering and on the verge of sinking. A decision had to be taken quickly and carefully. In this stormy weather and in the midst of the upheavals, the Quartet stepped forward, braved the adverse winds, discussed its options, and concerted its strategy, then reclaimed the rudder, established a navigation course and called it the roadmap, and put the ship back on course. The goal was to winch the country out of its crisis and the course was democratic transition.

It is worth reminding ourselves that the main purpose of this book is to retrace the destiny and journey of the female voice in the quartet, namely mine. Without any premeditation or calculation, I found myself at a specific period of time thrust forward and facing the chaos, dissonances, and disorder that dominated the daily scene in my country. But I took up the challenge, armed with the energy that was mine and moved by a patriotic spirit I carried inside me. My trustful colleagues, God bless them, stood by my side and never failed to encourage me. It had never crossed my mind then that I would one day recall these and other souvenirs and commit them to writing. Such a prospect was neither part of my upbringing, which on the whole was rather conventional, nor of my own personal orientation and culture, which was predominantly professional and focused on economics and finance. It took the Nobel Peace Prize to push me to break my usual mole and seize the opportunity to venture into new territories.

I’ve decided to give here my own testimony about events as I experienced them, without embellishment, without distortion, and without acrimony. I only wish for the reader’s indulgence and forgiveness if I may have omitted a detail or an event out of forgetfulness and nothing else.

I’m doing this because not only have I personally become intimately involved in the events, but I have also unwittingly dragged my children and extended family in this swirling angst. But why write today, years after the events? Perhaps to lighten the load of these memories before they are crushed by the inevitable weight of age and oblivion along with my impulses and my souvenirs. Why so late then? Simply because not long ago, there were elections and election campaigns in the country, and I preferred to steer clear of being accused of collusion with this party or that candidate, I wanted to have a free voice.

Since the beginning of 2016, time flew by quickly for me and many developments crowded my life. But I always had in mind to divulge publicly what I often shared discreetly with a restricted circle of close friends and acquaintances. In fact, the gist of the story I wanted to tell had already toured the world in just a few hours. It was the story of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Tunisian Quartet in 2015.

The adventure of the Nobel Prize was so strong for me, so pregnant and so dizzying that I had to share it in my own way, of course, armed with only my memory, my character, my sensitivity, and my cultural background. I had also to tell it from the angle dictated by my conscience.

Having been a leading actress on the stage of this adventure, it is only natural that I would want to add my editorial pinch of salt to the already voluminous trove of testimonies on the subject by specialists and other patent observers. I felt I needed to throw in my two cents’ worth before the need to share my side of this dizzying adventure turns into guilty and reprehensible silence. In order to do that truthfully and clarify where I was coming from, it became, therefore, apparent to me that it would be useful and even essential to evoke a part of my life, to look at my education and my upbringing; and introduce my mentors and their profiles, my allies, and my adversaries; my early childhood, my marked paths, and my constructed journey.

I can honestly say that my decision to do that and to reflect upon my personal journey was not dictated by any desire to gain further media exposure to borrow a common expression. In my mind and in reality, this exposure had already run its course and the indescribable happiness and satisfaction that came with it have long been consumed. No, my goal was and still is to offer the reader a step-by-step account of my journey to the Nobel Prize, some of the facets of this journey being still unknown to the general public. I wanted in fact to involve the reader in the dizzying climb to the highest peaks of world recognition by a devoted and committed woman, still ready to brave the challenges of even higher summits in the service of her homeland.

The year was 2015, a terrible year for all humanity, incessantly marred by a tornado of unprecedented violence and barbarity. Every day and everywhere, the media, observers, decision-makers, and citizens were engaged in an anxiety-ridden debate about the world and its future in as far as it were possible to speak of any future at all. Like everyone else, my life was paced by the relentless flow of local and world news, and they were bad. They fell on our heads like bombs in wartime, and they left no one indifferent. They clouded our days and blackened the awakened consciousness of the civilized world. Terrorism invaded our lives and our conversations.

Oh, how much I would have liked to open my book with happy pictures, of my early childhood in my native village, for example, of the innocence of my school days, and later on of the many souvenirs and achievements at university and in