Tunis Takes on Its Government As the World's Jaw Drops

The Tunisian situation is probably what is fascinating me most in the Middle East right now. In Tunisia,  what is now called the “Jasmine Revolution” occurred when the youth staged revolts after a 26-year-old, unemployed university graduate, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in protest of the lack of jobs, sparking other students to rise and revolt against the autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who left for Saudi Arabia on Fri., Jan. 14. Tunisia’s unemployment rate (between 20 and 40 percent), is on par with other Middle Eastern countries, though it is widely thought to be a step above due to the appearance of wealth that is, in fact, largely controlled by the elite. Newspapers and sites such as YouTube were censored under the old regime, though Facebook remained free. The government even stooped to torture in order to silence dissident students. Now, citizens across the country are demanding a new, democratic government.

Maybe it’s because I spent time in Egypt, but I really liked a recap by a post on an Al-Jazeera blog that compared the situation in Tunisia to Egypt, where the majority of citizens hate the government but either work in government jobs that prolong the situation or simply do not do anything to change it. It really is true that you’ll find people in Egypt who will sit for hours in coffee shops when they could be working to get a job outside of the government or to make real change with the country, and the poor really do have cell phones that are not corresponding at all to what appears to be their income level.

Photo Courtesy of Stephen James

This is a typical Egyptian café, though this one is in the countryside of Luxor, not Cairo.

Ironically, a Washington Post article states that some of the youth in Tunisia were inspired by Egypt’s April 6th Movement. This was a movement in 2008, which the Egyptian government worked to suppress and which was largely begun by the youth to work to help striking workers. Word of that movement was spread by Facebook and other social networking sites. I remember watching a movie on it in my Online Media class in Egypt that followed how the government stalked and attempted to hunt down the perpetrators of the movement, largely through their social networking activities. It was really sad, and pretty disturbing how little freedom of expression there was.

Photo Courtesy of Celeste Small

This is a poorer neighborhood in Islamic Cairo, as seen from Al-Azhar Park 

Returning to what’s going on in Tunisia, currently, according to another Washington Post article, there are still many problems to come as the unity government faces threats from the RCD (Constitutional Democratic Rally), the former ruling party, as members of the old regime remain in the new government. A Boston Globe article, courtesy of the Associated Press, reported that there was some hope as two former officials who were pretty high up in the old regime, Abdallah Kallel and Abdelaziz Ben Dhia, were placed under house arrest for trying to hinder the attempts to move toward a democracy; police are currently looking for Abdelwaheb Abdallah as well. Larbi Nasri, he president of Hannibal TV, a popular, privately owned radio station, was also arrested along with his son for treason and for working against state security. Though the prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, has said he will quit politics following upcoming elections, he holds that he should stay through the transition, upsetting many protesters.

This revolution sparked similar protests in Sana, the capital of Yemen, on Jan. 22, begun by Tawakul Abdel-Salam, a woman who is a senior member of the Islah Party, an Islamic fundamentalist opposition party; crowds protested her subsequent arrest the following day. To the credit of Yemen’s government, it admitted that citizens should be allowed to express their opinions, but that they should do it within the law, which doesn’t really sound all that convincing. In Jordan, protesters demanded that the government and Prime Minister Samir Rifai step down on Fri., Jan. 21, despite measures taken by the government to try to appease the protesters. In particular, the dissidents want the prime minister to be elected rather than appointed by King Abdullah II. In any case, will this all cause a chain of Middle Eastern protests? We shall see...

Anyways, I’m glad that there remain people in the Middle East with the grit to rise up among themselves. Here’s for hoping that they will able to organize themselves and form their own ideal government, and one that is formed and run much more smoothly than are those of their neighbors (see: The Afghanistan Parliament fiasco). The United States (or, rather, Hillary Clinton), says that it is happy to see Tunisia include all constituents in its new government, but I’m still worried that two (or more) factions will become so polarized that they will be unable to compromise, which would be a shame. We’re seeing this now as Palestine and Israel are unable to find any sort of resolution as to their borders. In fact, it looks like their have been more plans that have not gone through than previously believed, though Palestine is saying that the leaked documents detailing potential negotiations in 2008 over refugees and Jerusalem were fabricated. 

Tunisia’s old regime was certainly horrible, despite any sort of idealized appearance of prosperity, and change much needed, but even if it takes a few members of the RCD to remain in office with considerable checks, I would hate to see all progress fall. My hope is that Tunisia can form a coalition government on its own terms, that could check the power of the RCD but could maintain a legitimate structure that both represents the people and would result in continued, peaceful transitions of power. I know that it currently wants to be a democracy, and if that works, perfect, but I really am not that focused on what type of government it will be as long as it can stabilize and maintain integrity.