The protest and resulting regime change in Tunisia restated the reality that there is no place in modern politics for dictator style governments. In a move that could return political freedom and democracy to Tunisia, it’s hard not to see the protests as the spark that lit the touch paper for the unrest in Egypt, which followed on from the revolution in Tunisia. The aftermath of the Tunisian protests reiterates the power that the voice of the people can have in society and the need for governments of all kinds to listen more to their calls for a better life.
Tunisia’s former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had been in power since 1984, following a relatively harmless coup d’état, leading on to twenty seven years of autocratic rule. Similarly Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak has ruled in absolution for the last thirty years, and both nations had been clogged with reports of corruption and a lack of political freedom in the run up to what has gone on to be known as the Arab Spring.
In Tunisia, it would appear that the diminishing opportunities for the young was also a key factor in spinning the frustration of the nation up to a regime change level of activity. The slow economic growth in Tunisia during the majority of Ben Ali’s rule meant that to a large extent the people there accepted the police state under the pseudo-dictator, but as the economy dried up, so did the people’s tolerance for the system.
The voice of this sentiment grew in strength overnight when a young graduate, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire on the 17th December 2010 to protest against officials from his home town preventing him from selling vegetables on the streets without permission. It was clearly a situation that went to the heart of Tunisia’s free market trader ethos. You’ve only got to walk down the street in any Tunisian town and city for just a little while to notice how important selling goods to make a living is to the people there, so when the freedom to do just that was cut off for the young man, it sent a shock-wave of anger throughout the country.
From this small act of frustration a groundswell of protests raised up against the police state and with the power of modern communication, media and word of mouth they managed to topple the long outdated might of the government. The Tunisian Revolution, known as the Jasmine Revolution in the west due to the Tunisian national flower, lasted for just twenty eight days with an incredible process of civil resistance and street demonstrations forcing the former president to flee the country and eventually resign from office on the 24th January 2011.
What the Tunisian protests show is that a dictator style government can only pull the wool over the eyes of its people for so long. When the cat gets out of the bag, it moves with purpose, speed and a wave of overwhelming support.
