The Nobel Peace Prize 2015 has been awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a team of four civil society organisations. Tunisia was the first MENA country to experience the protests in late 2010. Starting off the mass movement that became known as the Arab Spring. The country’s ‘Jasmine Revolution’ took place in 2011, and though regime change soon followed, the road over the past few years has not always been smooth. BRIC Plus News tells you all you need to know about Tunisia’s difficult journey, and wonders what will be next for the North African nation.
The Jasmine Revolution
Mohammed Bouazizi, a fruit seller, had his cart confiscated because he lacked a permit. When he resisted, he was subject to a savage beating by police. On December 17th, in an act of desperation, Mohammed stood in front of a local municipal office in the town of Sidi Bouzid, drenched himself in paint thinner, and set himself alight. This act was the fuse that would inflame all of Tunisia (and the Middle East and North Africa) in popular uprising. That same day, protests erupted in Sidi Bouzid. With Mohammed Bouazizi’s treatment, a Pandora’s box of public resentment sprung open with a flourish. Anger at living standards, police brutality, unemployment, and human rights soon saw the entire country engaged in protest. This would end with the removal of President Ben Ali, who fled to exile, and the return of democracy.
[via Aswedham]
Election after election
Elections are usually a positive sign. Sometimes, they are a sign of desperation. In Tunisia’s journey over the past few years, both have been the case. Following the exile of President Ben Ali, and the resignation of Prime Minister Ghannouchi, elections were held in late 2011. The result was the fundamentalist Ennahda Party winning a plurality of seats in the parliament, a new president, Moncef Marzouki, and a new prime minister, Hamadi Jebali. Protests soon intensified again, against the government’s alleged efforts to curtail women’s rights, with a draft constitution that no longer guaranteed full equality of the sexes. The murder of Mohamed Brahmi, and opposition politician, sparked called for the new government to resign. In December 2013, the Prime Minister Jebali later resigned, and an interim government was formed between the Ennahda Party and secular parties. In October 2014, the Nidaa Tounes party proved victorious in elections, forming the largest block in the elections. In December of the same year, Beji Caid Essebi was elected president. He has been in power ever since.
The future
Tunisia’s problems did not end with the return of democracy. Violent extremism has been an issue that has plagued the country since the revolution. Violent Salafist groups attacked alcohol sellers, an art exhibition, and clashed with police. But Tunisia’s extremist problems were to return in a way much more sinister. ISIS carried out two terror attacks in the country in 2015. In March, 21 people were gunned down at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. In June, 38 were shot on a beach in Sousse. The future of Tunisia may still hang in the balance, but the continuation of democracy, even in the face of terror, is perhaps something that can be counted on.
