Take two

Ok so I was wrong - the dust didn't settle. In fact, it was a veritable sandstorm that followed Friday's news from Tunisia. The difference between producing the Focus on Africa magazine and producing the Focus on Africa radio programme is more than just a word - I was on the radio desk on Friday and I'm struggling to remember a day when breaking news came at us from so many directions. At least on the magazine we have a bit of a chance to sit back and reflect (although not much).
So Tunisia is a very different country to the one it was last week. A new head of state, a new government and a raft of laws meant to free up the oppressive state apparatus. Or is it? The sense we're getting today is that the 'coalition' government is not satisfying those who - last week - were on the streets demanding change. Perhaps that's not surprising. Afterall, what has happened in Tunisia can't be called a revolution. The new administration still has elements of the old. And the words of a protester last week keep coming back to me - is it out of the realm of posibility that the departed (not deposed) president may actually come back?
Let's step back a bit. It seems that January 2008 could have been the starting point of a new era for Africa. That was the month that Kenya exploded after disputed polls. ZImbabwe soon followed and now we are sitting with the tinder-box that is Ivory Coast and Tunisia. In all these cases a mediator has been dispatched to try and bring about peace at all costs - usually in the form of unity governments. Tunisia has been cited in recent days as one of the rare instances of a North Africa country effectively standing up to its strongman leader. While Nairobi and Harare sit with their coaltions in state house, could it be that Tunisia is breaking ground in other ways too - by showing its unity government the door before it's even really got going?