University professors and teachers take part in a protest to demand higher wages in Tunis, Tunisia December 19, 2018. Reuters
University professors and teachers take part in a protest to demand higher wages in Tunis, Tunisia December 19, 2018. Reuters

Sidi Bouzid's rage still simmers, 8 years after Tunisian revolution



Sidi Bouzid’s streets filled with the angry shouts of the region’s unemployed graduates earlier this week. It’s not an unusual sight in a town where joblessness is rife. On Monday however, their protest marked the eight year anniversary of an event in the town that changed the country, the region and, ultimately, the world.

Located among the sand and brush that dominates much of Tunisia’s hardscrabble hinterland, Sidi Bouzid is an unremarkable town. On its main street, shopkeepers look out onto passing traffic, speaking of extended families and the unemployed relatives they must support from the day’s takings.

It wasn’t much different eight years ago when 26-year-old street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi, unable to afford a bribe after police kicked over his fruit cart and confiscated his scales, set himself alight outside the governor’s office, igniting a revolution in Tunisia that spread like wildfire across the region.

Almost a decade after the revolution, many still question what was achieved during those tumultuous days between 2010 and 2011. While Tunisia has transitioned to democracy, advances in free speech and civil liberties have yet to transform into jobs and a stable income for the legions who lie idle, or eke out a living in informal employment, across the country.

Civil society activist, Aymen Abderrahmen grew up near the town and tells The National: "Life was not easy in Sidi Bouzid before December 2010, and even worse in the peripheries."

The presence of Tunisia’s autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally, was everywhere. “If you had an opposition figure in your broader family, you’ll very likely be denied legal documents from the police station, denied application to work and studies, denied a passport and such, so everyone – including members of my family – had to join the party.”

Before Tunisia’s revolution, any activity outside of the president’s party came at a cost. “Even organising a school cultural club or a sports tournament, or joining the students union, for instance, would have jeopardised my father's job as a school principal,” Mr Abderrahmen said.

Learning of Bouazizi’s self-immolation through foreign reporting, 23-year-old Tunis resident Inel Tarfa never imagined that the Sidi Bouzid street vendor’s final act would trigger a revolution. There had been another self-immolation, that of Abdesslem Trimech in Monastir nine months previously, with little media attention or reform following. Even the widespread riots in the mining basin of Gafsa in 2008 had done little to loosen the iron grip Mr Ben Ali and his wife’s extended Trabelsi family exerted upon the country.

“I’d never really been politically involved.” Mr Tarfa said. “But one day the political police came to our house, arrested my brother and seized his computer. They took him away and that was that. We didn’t hear anything about him for two months.”

Mr Tarfa’s brother had been accused of posting anti regime propaganda online, an offence punishable by law. His parents were desperate. “They tried everything. They went round all the police stations, all the hospitals, everything. Eventually, a parent of another prisoner told them that their son had been imprisoned alongside my brother, so we knew he was OK. A month later he was released on probation.

“That was it, really. After that, I hated them. I’d watch them on TV just lying to us. They would look us in the face and they would lie.”

Tunisia’s economy was stagnating. Inflation and mass unemployment were intruding upon the lives of many. Dissent was finding its voice and spreading. Mabrouka Mbarak, later one of the Constituent Assembly deputies responsible for helping draft the country’s post-revolution constitution said: “When I heard of the immolation, I immediately recognised that Bouazizi is us… marginalised by contempt, dispossessed by a global system of accumulation capitalism and domination, deprived from dignity by a dictatorship supported by the West.”

The demonstrations that started in the wake of Bouazizi’s desperate protest morphed into riots, spreading outwards and engulfing much of the country. Mr Tarfa tracked their spread on social media, eventually heading into the city centre and joining with the hundreds who had gathered round the central trade union office to give voice to their fury. “I couldn’t believe it. They were actually chanting the names of the Trabelsi family, and even Ben Ali himself,” Mr Tarfa said. “I was sure that the police would react violently, but all they did was insult us and tell us to go home.”

It wasn’t until later, when Mr Tarfa joined a further protest that he witnessed the brutality of Tunisia’s police. “They just beat people. You could see their faces, they were filled with hate.”

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Read more:

Tunisia's state of emergency provides cover for police abuses, analysts say 

Tunisia prime minister accused of coup plot and dismisses allegation as 'a joke'

Tunisian Prime Minister arrives in Riyadh to meet Saudi leadership

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On January 13, Mr Ben Ali finally confronted the scale of the protest against him, making a speech promising economic relief for the country’s hard-pressed population. However, by that time, it was too late. The next day, with the smell of tear gas lingering and bullet casings lying on the ground, he resigned.

Today, Tunisia still struggles with the legacy of his 23 year rule. Despite a commitment to the principles of democracy, there has been a reluctance among parts of the Tunisian establishment to reckon with past sins. Recovery and reform have been slow.

Many of Mr Ben Ali’s cadre have returned to mainstream politics, with the president – himself a former ally of the deposed autocrat – spearheading the amnesty of the old regime’s civil service last year. Joblessness remains around 15 per cent, climbing to double that figure in some of the more hard pressed interior towns.

With little sign of economic growth to inspire hope for the future, many citizens take to the streets at regular intervals. Occasionally, their demands are met. At other times their vocal presence provides a reminder to those in power that with many of the conditions that first sparked the country’s revolution unimproved, the public’s thirst for something better is unquenched.

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Company%20Profile
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
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2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,950m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).

2.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

3.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Adam McLean, Doug Watson.

3.45pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,950m; Winner: Conclusion, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.

4.15pm: Handicap Dh100,000 1,400m; Winner: Pilgrim’s Treasure, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.

4.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m; Winner: Sanad Libya, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

5.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,000m; Winner: Midlander, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

The bio

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School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

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Dust storm

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  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
MATCH INFO

Argentina 47 (Tries: Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2), De La Fuente, Bertranou; Cons: Sanchez 5, Urdapilleta)

United States 17 (Tries: Scully (2), Lasike; Cons: MacGinty)