Khelil sent me this comment (I cite with his consent, of course): "You've been (mostly) praising Marzouki but I think it should be noted that
Marzouki is also strongly disliked by many Tunisians, and even routinely mocked
and ridiculed. And this goes beyond his recent "Islam is the solution" quip;
Tunisians are angry that he called for selling palaces. The angry is not over
Ben Ali's palatial homes, but the ones dating from the beylical regime. These
are spoken of as heritage and the outrage was two-fold: one it is a symbolic
travesty to sell ancient architecture and an offense exacerbated by the fear
that they will be bought by gaudy oil sheikhs and it is adding to the caricature
of Marzouki in many quarters as someone who is prone toward gimmicky
solutions.
And many Tunisians are angry that Marzouki gave credit to Palestine, though
this did not resort to vulgar nationalist chest-beating or being indifferent to
Palestine. The commentary I've read upholds the righteousness of the Palestinian
struggle but considers it unbecoming to deny Tunisia's historic role at this
moment and many distinguish between Palestine's nationalist struggle and
Tunisia's dignity and freedom revolt. The former is not about democracy per
se."
