Perspectives on post-revolution Tunisia
Let’s face it. Had the Sidi Bouzid Revolt of Tunisia not happened, the rest of the Arab Spring might just have remained a dream. The uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Libya found their basis in the Tunisian revolt of December 2010, a three-week uprising that saw the end of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s rule over the country. As with all revolutions, it carried a strong message: a stand by the Tunisian citizens against a long era of oppression, unemployment, inflation, lack of freedom of expression, corruption and poor living standards. Mohamad Bouazizi’s self-immolation was the final act of sacrifice the Tunisian people oversaw – the anger and mourning of which led to the end of a long regime of tyranny.
That is the spirit of the revolution, a natural order of history – where resistance finally boils to a point that the state crumbles before public anger. Well and good. But what is next? In Tunisia’s case, did this uprising lead to a complete revolution, a complete annihilation of the system Tunisians had known before the uprising? Or were the Tunisian people, the inspiration to hundreds of thousands of men and women fighting against oppression in their own states, doomed to repeat the same mistakes that had brought them to this point of boiling anger in the first place?
A brief description the Tunisian society is in order. The pre-revolution government of Tunisia had been ruling for over 22 years. President Ben Ali had no immediate successor. The regime had not only lost touch with its people, it did not tolerate any advice or criticism, whether local or international. Moreover, the government increasingly began to rely on the use of police to quell any dissent.
Tunisia boasted of one of the healthiest economies in the Maghreb. Unfortunately, the domestic situation was not as heartening as the former Tunisian government would have liked to think. It was increasingly getting harder and harder for the government to generate jobs for scores of university graduates that were appearing on the job market. The Tunisian government had invested heavily in education. It just did not plan for what came after. The university graduates were untrained for what the job market was looking for. This is exactly what happened to one of the heroes of the Arab Spring. Mohamad Bouazizi was a 26-year-old graduate who sold vegetables from a cart since his education was of no use to him.
When he set himself on fire, the initial protests just expressed sympathy. As his story spread, the protest took a shift in momentum and message. It soon became a stand against the general state of affairs in the country. They led to President Ben Ali fleeing to Jeddah and an uprooting of the entire system of governance that the Tunisians had known.
Fast forward to 2012; Tunisia has an elected government, led by Ennahda Movement (also known as Renaissance Party). It is the largest, most systematic force in the country. They call themselves a moderate Islamist political party. The secular forces in Tunisia also found their presence in the new setup as a former dissident and human rights’ activist Moncef Marzouki was sworn in as president. He led the secular centre-left Congress for the Republic Party.
The country has shown commendable progress towards democracy, shaking the widely-held belief that the Arab world is dominated by monarchs, militaries and mullahs. Tunisia has paved the way for institutional reform, starting from the constitution itself. The ban of the hijab was lifted, women were guaranteed rights. The constitution also restricted the role of the president and increased the power of the parliament. Recipe for a healthy democracy? Indeed.
At the same time, the country is also grappling with a wave of nation-wide crime that became possible after the release (and escape) of about 10,000 prisoners during the revolt. Local militias have also sprung up in various cities as a result of the influx of refugees from the war-torn Libya.
Tunisian Salafism is also on the rise, a fact the mainstream media is quick to dismiss. These groups are not known for their organisational strength and depth. To the contrary, these are a collection small, disorganised right-wing individuals. It is interesting to note their emergence; they were virtually non-existent before the Tunisian uprising. In the 1990s, they were systematically silenced by the government. The government used a variety of methods, forcing many to go into exile, or going underground. In many cases, they were imprisoned and harassed. This points to an increasing trend of polarisation around the role of Islam in Tunisian politics.
At the same time, the Tunisian Left has made a secure space for itself in the country’s politics. The revolution allowed the Tunisian Left to regroup and emerge as a strong force once more. Rabita al-Umal al-Yassaria (or the Left Workers League) came back stronger in the wake of the revolution. At the same time, two Maoists groups, Party of the Patriotic Democrats and Movement of Patriotic Democrats, also announced a merger. Trade unions were also reborn in the vacuum that was created in the absence of an oppressive regime.
The country is still grappling with the problem of unemployment. The 2013 World Development Report shows horrifying statistics about the projections on employment in Tunisia. According to an IRI survey, large majorities identify economic issues as their primary concern: 60 percent describe the economy as bad or very bad, while 81 percent mention jobs as one of their top three issues, followed by “developing the economy” (51 percent) and “living standards” (49 percent). Some 85 percent say that unemployment is the top problem facing the country, followed by economic crisis (63 percent). A rather stunning 57 percent of respondents say that they are not currently employed.
Tunisia today is no longer black and white. Its systems are deep-layered and complicated – as with most countries. Added to this is the pressure on the government and the international scrutiny on the people because one wants to see where the revolution took the country. It is needless to say that revolutionary movements around the world are rooting for post-revolution Tunisia to be a success, to thrive under a balance found between secular and conservative forces, to manage the economic situation and to become a force to be reckoned with.
The writer is a staff member at Pakistan Today