By Helen Clapp
The story is now a familiar one: on 17 December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit seller in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid, lit himself on fire following the confiscation of his wares. His self-immolation ignited the widespread protests that led to the fall of Tunisia’s long-standing dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, on 14 January 2011. The Tunisian spark ignited protests across the Arab world, leading to regime demise in some countries and protracted civil wars in others. Tunisia was able to escape the bloody aftershocks of revolution that other Arab countries experienced, and in 2014 adopted a constitution providing for citizens’ rights and free elections. Tunisia is often held up by outside observers as the only success story of the Arab Spring. However, a decade later, Tunisians are once again taking to the streets to protest their government. What is driving these protests? Are they the same forces that animated protests a decade ago? And have conditions in Tunisia changed for better or for worse since the Arab Spring?
Few political parties in the country have survived for long since the revolution ten years ago, and none have been able to deliver on Tunisians’ demands. The deteriorating economic and security situation has resulted in nostalgia amongst many ordinary Tunisians for the security and relative prosperity of the Ben Ali years. The rise of Abir Moussi, a former official in Ben Ali’s regime and populist parliamentarian of the Free Destourian Party, is an indication of Tunisians’ dissatisfaction with their government and the country’s current state of affairs. While Tunisia has adopted a constitution, held free and fair elections, and completed peaceful transitions of power since 2011, politicians have failed to deliver the demands that were the rallying cry of the revolution: access to work, political freedom, and national dignity. In fact, many of the problems that led to the 2011 revolution persist. Some have even worsened.
While protests around high unemployment rates have occurred almost every December and January since the revolution, the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the problem, driving a larger and more geographically widespread turnout of protestors than in previous years. Even before the pandemic, unemployment stood at about 15% nationwide, and was as high as 30% in poor neighborhoods around Tunis and the interior of the country. Amongst 15-24 year-olds, the demographic driving the protests, the rate of unemployment reached 36% nationwide. Unemployment rates have only risen since the start of the pandemic, driving discontent that finally erupted into protests. Wealth inequality is pervasive, with the richest 10% of Tunisians controlling over 40% of the country’s wealth. The number of Tunisians migrating to Italy has skyrocketed, increasing fivefold in 2020. The fact that so many Tunisians would rather risk their lives on a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean than remain in a country with limited opportunities serves to underline the widespread sense of desperation and hopelessness in the country.
Police brutality was another complaint driving the 2011 protests. Bouazizi lit himself on fire after being harassed by the police, a struggle that resonated with many Tunisians at the time. After the revolution, the new government initially cracked down on security forces, dissolving the secret police and firing high-level security officials. These changes prompted the police to create unions, however, enabling them to regain the impunity they enjoyed under Ben Ali. The police unions have flexed their muscle over the last few years, blocking security sector reform and supporting a 2015 counterterrorism law granting them broad surveillance power and allowing for the detention of terrorism suspects. Vice President of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) Mokhtar Trifi has proclaimed that “torture is making a comeback in Tunisia.”
The government’s failure to provide security, services, employment, and protections against the police has led to simmering anger and discontent that erupted this January in the largest protests Tunisia has seen since 2011. In order to move forward peacefully, the government must address the demands of its populace, in particular unemployment and police impunity. The country is at a crossroads. If the situation continues unaddressed, Tunisia could erupt in another full-scale revolution; on the other hand, rising nostalgia for the days of Ben Ali indicates that the country may be regressing towards more repressive rule. Although Tunisia has achieved the trappings and institutions of a democratic state, only the hard work of leveling the playing field and providing economic and social opportunities for all Tunisians will lead to true peace and prosperity. As Nesrine Jelalia, the Executive Director of Tunisian nonprofit Al Bawsala, declared, “the revolution did not fail, the revolution is still on.”
Special thanks to Samer Elchahabi for his insights.
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