Пятница, 19 Декабрь 2014 13:15

Tunisia – four years after Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolation

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17 December 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian tradesman, has committed an act of self-immolation in protest against the confiscation of his goods and against lawlessness of the authorities. This has become a starting point for the Jasmine revolution that led to the overthrow of Ben Ali’s regime and to the series of harsh disturbance in several Middle Eastern countries, called the Arab Spring thanks to the journalists’ good graces. Four years have passed since then. In November 2014 Tunisia saw the second parliamentary elections after the Jasmine revolution, where a secular party Nidaa Tunès has won, the first round of presidential elections was also held. The second one is planned for the 21st of December. Compared to the other survivors of the Arab spring, the Tunisian case distinguishes itself by the positive development. Four years after the Jasmine revolution the Tunisian phenomenon is commented by Nikolai Sukhov.

Self-immolation of Bouazizi was a “programmed” event. It was artificially bloated by those social powers, which have already been accumulating the discontent with Ben Ali’s regime that did not allow the youth use the means of social mobility, did not let the country develop. He has not fulfilled the promises that brought him to power more than twenty years ago: to build a prospering society based on justice and tolerance in Tunisia. But a new generation with completely different thinking in the changing world has grown. Most importantly, this youth has lost fear, though it was generally accepted that Tunisian special services are numerous and powerful. This idea was of course supported by the facts of imprisonment, torture and beatings of the protesting youth or young people showing their civic stand by different means. But after the banishment or, more correctly, the scuttle of President it turned out that the manpower of the special services was much lower and they were not so powerful and omnipresent, a exactly this has determined their failure to deal with the protest movement. The protest movement has finally prevailed.

Bouazizi self-immolation was artificially bloated, as I have said, and his modest personality was surrounded by legends and myth, that did not correspond to the reality at all. The most important thing is a demand for such legends, the resentment it symbolized. There was a social resentment for negligence for the interest of youth, despair felt by young educated people – and these qualities were later attributed to Bouazizi, though he was never a university graduate. This myth has showed a social request.

Then during 2011-2012 the country has, of course, survived different stages of its post-crisis development. But it is important that the Tunisian society was capable to overcome all the problems typical of other societies in Arab countries. They were able to settle their differences and achieve the national dialogue by peaceful means. The existing contradictions between different powers in other Arab countries and mainly in Egypt, have led to clashes, even to the armed ones. Tunisia has not faced this. The situation in Tunisia has shaped the way we see it, that the sincere desire to create their own country, to make it nice to live in, has allowed the leaders of social movements to arrive to the agreement between each other. And already in the end of 2013 a road map determining the means to create a technocratic government was signed. And it was able to stabilize the situation and allowed the economy and social life get into more or less natural course. There was ongoing political – and it is important! – struggle between Islamists and secular parties on the basis of this stabilization. And we have seen the result in the end of this year – Nidaa Tunès, oligarchic from one hand and with absolutely secular slogans and program, has won the parliamentary elections in November. We can be happy for the Tunisians here.

Egypt has arrived to nearly the same results in economy, social sphere and relative stabilization, but it had to suffer a coup d’état. Tunisia has shown the ability of its society for peaceful coexistence of different social powers and that they are building their society on the basis of democracy and consensus. Of course much depends on the leaders of the parties, on their charisma, power and external as well as the internal support. According to the estimations of experts, Ghannouchi, for example, already does not have ambitions to become a national leader, to bring his party Ennahda to victory. He has expressed his will to enter the international structure of Muslim Brotherhood - the International Union for Muslim Scolars (based in Doha). Ennahda does not have a proper leader anymore and this weakens the party. Meanwhile the secular forces are lead by the rich Tunisians who are interested in creating a dynamic economy, to recreate it. They are people who could not influence the country’s life during Ben Ali’s rule even despite their wealth.

Прочитано 17045 раз Последнее изменение Воскресенье, 15 Март 2015 13:07
Nikolai Soukhov

Nikolay Soukhov (PhD, History) is a researcher of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Russian Academy of Sciences) and an associate professor of Peoples’ friendship University of Russia.