Tunisia: Arab Spring Torchbearer At A Crossroads

Tunis, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jul, 2022 ) :Tunisians will vote Monday on a new constitution promoted by a president whose critics say he is trying to restore autocracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

Here is some background on the Mediterranean country of 12 million people, the torchbearer of the pro-democracy uprisings that rocked North Africa and the middle East in 2011.

- From independence to revolt - A French protectorate since 1881, Tunisia gained independence in March 1956.

A year later, it was declared a republic with ardent secularist Habib Bourguiba as its president.

In 1987, Bourguiba was deposed by prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a bloodless coup after doctors declared the ageing president was no longer mentally fit to rule.

Ben Ali developed the economy, but turned Tunisia into a police state and allowed his clan to build fabulous wealth through corruption and monopolies.

He was elected and re-elected in multiple votes, often clearly rigged, before being toppled by popular protests in 2011 after 23 years in power.

- Arab Spring torchbearer - The central town of Sidi Bouzid became the birthplace of Tunisia's revolution when a young fruit seller set himself on fire there in December 2010, protesting police harassment and unemployment.

The desperate act of university graduate Mohamed Bouazizi, who died days later, triggered weeks of mass protests against unemployment, high living costs, nepotism and state repression which were brutally repressed.

Ben Ali's announcement that he would not seek re-election failed to appease the huge crowds calling for him to leave. On January 14, 2011, he fled to Saudi Arabia.

Tunisia's revolution inspired other Arab nations to rise up and topple autocratic leaders, including Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Moamer Kadhafi.

But most of the revolts ended in civil war or military-led counter-revolutions.

- Secularists vs Islamists - Tunisia's first free elections were held in October 2011 to choose an assembly to write a new constitution.

The polls were won by the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha movement.

Lawmakers adopted the new constitution in January 2014, after two years of political turmoil that exposed deep rifts between Ennahdha and the secular opposition.

In October 2014, the secular Nidaa Tounes party won a parliamentary election.

Two months later, its elderly leader Beji Caid Essebsi won the country's first free presidential election.

In 2019, Ennahdha again became the biggest bloc in the deeply fragmented parliament, holding a quarter of the seats.

Retired university professor Kais Saied was elected president on an anti-establishment platform.

- Seeking bailout - Tunisia, which has been in economic crisis since the revolution, is in talks with the International Monetary Fund about a bailout package to save it from bankruptcy.

The country was plunged into yet another political crisis after President Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament in July 2021, accusing them of incompetence.

His power grab proved popular with Tunisians disillusioned with the political class, but has fuelled fears of a return to autocratic rule.

- Women's rights - Since independence, Tunisia has been regarded as relatively progressive on women's rights in the Arab and Muslim world, adopting a Personal Status Code in 1956 that abolished polygamy and allows either spouse to request a divorce.

The 2014 constitution set a goal of parity in elected assemblies. In 2017, parliament adopted a law to tackle violence against women.

- Jihadist scourge - Tunisia was both a prime target of attacks by the Islamic State group and one of the top sources of foreign jihadists travelling to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside the Sunni extremists.

IS claimed three major attacks in Tunisia in 2015 that killed 72 people, mainly foreign tourists and members of the security forces.

In 2016, 13 security personnel, seven civilians and at least 55 jihadists were killed in a battle in the town of Ben Guerdane, near the border with Libya.

Authorities say they have made significant progress in the fight against terrorism since then, but the country is still under a state of emergency imposed in 2015.

- Rich heritage - Tunisia is home to many sites on UNESCO's World Heritage list, including the Old Cities of Tunis and Sousse and the archaeological site of Carthage, capital of a Phoenician civilisation that rivalled ancient Rome.

The Muslim holy city of Kairouan and nearby El Jem, whose Roman colosseum ranks among the finest in the world, are also listed, while Tataouine is famous for sets used in the filming of Star Wars.