The Arab Spring's Promise Has Failed Most Tunisians

By Henry Srebrnik, [Fredericton, NB] Daily Gleaner

Tunisia has been seen as the country that benefited more than any other from the Arab Spring that swept the Middle East starting in 2011. Unlike Libya, Syria, and Yemen, it did not descend into civil war, nor did it oscillate between rule by the military or the Muslim Brotherhood, as was the case in Egypt.

After decades of contempt, brutality and arbitrary treatment from the police, along with corrupt government and the conspicuous enrichment of families close to Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s kleptocratic ruler, the small towns of Tunisia’s rural interior and then the coastal cities, including the suburbs of Tunis, rose up to demand social justice and reclaim their dignity.

The catalyst for mass demonstrations was the death of a 26-year-old street vendor, who set himself on fire in December 2010 in protest at the confiscation of his wares and the humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official in the poor town of town of Sidi Bouzid. Mohammed Bouazizi sold fruit and vegetables illegally because he could not find a job.

Anger and violence intensified following his death Jan. 4, 2011, and within 10 days Ben Ali was forced to resign and flee the country, after 23 years in power. He died two years ago in exile in Saudi Arabia. His ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally was banned and its resources confiscated.

At first, it seemed as if democracy had triumphed. Politicians went on to write a progressive constitution in 2014 and to build an inclusive political system that gave space to both Islamists and their former adversaries from Ben Ali’s ousted regime.

In fact, the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition of civil society organizations, for “its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia.”

It hasn’t turned out that way. Ben Ali’s successors have betrayed the revolution’s promise of dignity. Ten years on, the revolution has lost some of its momentum. The poverty is even more shocking, corruption still plagues daily life, and the political class is discredited.

Thanks to deadlock in its post-revolutionary parliamentary system, Tunisia has seen new governments at a rate of one per year, and three in just the last 12 months.

Despite expectations that the revolution would replace the elites in power, members of the former regime have resurfaced. The police were among the first vestiges of the old regime to return to the post-revolutionary landscape. Political parties are dominated by wealthy businessmen.

As faith in politics has dwindled, so has voter turnout. Over the course of Tunisia’s seven free elections, participation has fallen from a high of 68 per cent in the 2014 parliamentary elections to 42 per cent in 2019.

Tunisians have been expressing their anger publicly for many months now, but since November, just before the 10th anniversary of the revolution that brought down Ben Ali, that anger has grown louder. Hundreds of young people have been detained during ongoing nights of unrest since January 14.

Protestors have demonstrated and blocked roads, demanding jobs, local development, and meetings with representatives of the government to present their grievances and proposals.

Wrangles over wages have led to strikes and protests in vital sectors, including health, transport, and natural resources.

The victories won a decade ago are now under threat. A Truth and Dignity Commission, formally launched in June 2014 to investigate gross human rights violations, was undermined when a law was passed by parliament in September 2017 that undermined its work by offering an amnesty to public officials accused of corruption.

There have been demonstrations in many cities by people hard hit by the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It continues to suffocate efforts toward reforms and investments, particularly in the southern half of the country, where levels of unemployment hover around 60 per cent.

Opportunities for most people have become so scant, especially in Tunisia’s impoverished interior, that at least 13,000 Tunisian migrants crossed to Italy by boat just in 2020.

Tunisians remain trapped by the same forces their protests sought to dispel a decade ago. Deposing a dictator is by itself not enough to create a new political culture and a viable economy.