The 10th anniversary of the “Arab Spring”, the birthplace of Tunisia’s protest
In Tunisia, the birthplace of the “Arab Spring” that swept across many countries in the Middle East ten years ago, anti-government protests broke out again recently.
As of January 19, the clashes between the protesters and the police had lasted for 5 days. Analysis believes that the reason for this protest is that economic difficulties have aroused anger and frustration among the Tunisian people.
According to Reuters, as of January 19, in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzd where the protests first broke out in 2011, clashes between the police and the protesters had lasted for 5 days.
Witnesses said that the police were trying to disperse the armed counters. Protesters with government slogans.
Police and civilian clashes also broke out in some impoverished areas of Tunisia. Hundreds of angry protesters across the country lit tires and erected roadblocks.
As many as 250 demonstrators held a protest rally on Bourguiba Street in the center of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.
Tunisian Prime Minister Hitchin Mech said in a televised speech on the 19th that he understands that people are generally angry with the economic situation and the frustration of young people, but violence is unacceptable.
In 2011, Ben Ali, the former president of Tunisia for 23 years, was forced to step down during the “Arab Spring.” Since then, the veteran politician Esebsi became the country’s first elected president.
In July 2019, the 93-year-old Essebsi passed away, and the people elected Said Said, who had no experience in politics.
Some analysts believe that although Tunisia is called a “democratic template” for peaceful transition by the Western media, the Tunisian society that has recovered from decades of strongman politics is still not fully on the track of development.
There is still an insurmountable gap between the wealthy elite in the coastal cities and the poor in the underdeveloped inland areas.
In December 2010, Tunisian youth Muhammad Bouaziji, under pressure from his livelihood, protested on the streets to self-immolate.
In the following months, an unprecedented wave of protests and demonstrations swept across the Arab world, and several strong political figures who had been in the political arena for decades retired amid public protests.
Among these countries, Tunisia and Egypt have basically achieved peaceful regime change, while protest movements in Libya, Yemen, and Syria eventually evolved into armed conflicts between the government and the opposition.
