“‘Why do you think that, at 67, I would start a career as a dictator?’” President Kais Saied of Tunisia said in a meeting with The Times, quoting Charles de Gaulle. He vowed to preserve hard-fought rights in the country where the Arab Spring began. nyti.ms/3lo6pq3
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@nytimes FACT: The democratic ideals of the Arab Spring never stood a chance. Apart from a narrow circle of activists, demands for civil rights, individual liberties and fundamental freedoms didn't have a popular base, and none of the major political actors felt compelled to embrace them.