Tunisia renews its resolution and dangers of failing

The fast paced events of the Arab Spring and the Tunisian revolution are a dangerous indicator of the perilous slides and deviations that may arise in the Tunisian transitional phase. They are also an indicator suggesting that the Arab revolutionary wave may be renewed based on the conditions of the first after the first transitional phases failed miserably. Instead, these transitional phases’ main tasks have become limiting the losses resulting from the brutality of the deep state, after the demands during the revolutions were very high.

The increasing protests in the city of Kasserine in the heart of the midwestern area of Tunisia is occurring based on blatant social demands stemming from the catastrophic spread of unemployment amongst the youth despite the promises made by the government and presidency of employment and combatting corruption. However, the past five years since the revolution and the transitional phase only benefitted “a gang of thieves” who the people of Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid have been demanding, for the past five years, be held accountable by means of the revolution’s most prominent slogan, “employment is a right, oh gang of thieves”.

When the emergence of the revolution was responsive to objective conditions, which are mainly social and historical, its re-emergence or renewal was also subject to the same conditions, as they did not respond to the conditions in the beginning. This is a natural law of physics and because failing to respond to conditions of a movement means that the movement would re-emerge, by means of more aggressive mechanisms in order to achieve what the first movement failed to.

It may be too early to judge how effective the protests stemming from the Tunisian poverty and marginalisation have been, but they are undoubtedly an explicit reminder that the movement isn’t complete or finished, and that all attempts to ignore the demands of the revolution have failed miserably.

The Tunisian revolution was not a political revolution, and neither were the Arab Spring revolutions, as they did not involve a specific ideological, doctrinal, or intellectual faction demanding revolutions. However, one political ideological elite, the Islamists, rose early to the positions of power given they are the most organised and capable faction.

We know the result of this in Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab Spring hot spots. The popular spring turned into the winter of the elites, and progressed from the spring of action to the autumn of inability and destruction everywhere.

Tunisia is undisputedly the Arabs’ most important gauge given the fact that it is functional not engineered state. Therefore, it can take immediate action and activate the waves of social movement because of the nature of its population’s structure, which lacks deep sectarian or doctrinal complications. This means that the popular depth of the society is flat and sound. However, the complexity occurs in the senior levels of the social structure and is mainly formed at a regional level, where some areas receive better services, luxury, welfare and infrastructure, while others live under the poverty line and are marginalised and excluded from any developments.

The Tunisian revolution and the services, universities, hospitals and infrastructures are concentrated in the northern part of the country and its northern coast, i.e. in the capital. This area is an old colonial centre and in some of the areas on the coast are the birthplaces of the first and second colonial agents, Bourguiba and Ben Ali. Meanwhile, all the other areas in the country, including the central, southern and north-western areas suffer from poverty, marginalisation and exclusion since the departure of direct military colonialism in 1956.

This blatant discrimination hit the social and civilisational structure of the state with a serious gap which manifested itself during the elections in Tunisia. The electoral map honestly showed the size of the gap that divides the country into two parts and which threatens the state and society with dismantlement and division if those responsible for the gap do not take immediate action to close it and fix the imbalance. The Tunisian revolution is made of oil, gas, salt and phosphate, which the pro-colonialism regimes used for the benefit of foreign companies. The post-revolution governments stressed that their source is the Tunisian people who are only gained marginalisation, poverty and disrespect from the country’s wealth.

Following the revolution, after the first explosive wave of revolution died down, due to the actions of the deep state and the coup staged by the military in Egypt against the January Revolution under the pretext of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule, the old regime was safe from the actions of the revolution and they regained their vital roles, by means of deceit and Arab and international coordination, in the state’s central institutions.

However, despite the efforts made by the shameful national media platforms to terrorise the citizens using the terrorism scarecrow, which coincidently made the Kasserine heights their headquarters, the social fire cannot be extinguished without the water of society. Otherwise, the popular fire will engulf everyone. Targeting the place of the revolution by means of manufactured terrorism is nothing but the deep state, or “senior official’s” (in the words of the president) attempt to disregard the social demands and instead keep the channels of looting, exploitation and the thieving of vital resources and wealth open in order to steal all the requirements for development and to deprive the people from being normal people in their countries, instead, they are victims of escape, immigration, deviation, extremism, or death.

The “Islamists of Tunisia” as they call themselves, who were taken by the revolution of the poor and unemployed and put in power, and who were returned from exile despite not participating in the revolution, describe the revolutionary discourse today as destructive rebellious discourse which does not serve the interests of the state or the transitional process. However, this discourse does not serve their interests and instead exposes their constant inability to resist corruption and exposes their humiliating alliance with the oppressors of yesterday and the same gang of thieves.

However, on the other hand, we must warn that continuing to appoint the former regime’s mouthpieces and the members of its gang in every state institution and the attempt to disregard and circumvent the revolution’s demands will be disastrous for the revolutionary path. It may, God forbid, slip into a state that may cause undesired consequences, especially since the unemployed youth have nothing to lose. There are many external and internal parties monitoring the Tunisian path in order to thwart the experience, despite its many flaws, in order to push Tunisians into the bloody scene of the Arab Spring.

Based on this, the greatest responsibility falls today on the shoulders of those leading the country, as they must enable those deprived of their basic rights that make humans humans and restore the billions looted by the thieving gangs in all of the state’s institutions, including many MPs in the crippled parliament, those climbing up the ladders of ministers and embassies, and the departments looting public funds.

A family member of Mabrouk Soltani, the shepherd who was killed by the terrorist death teams in the Kasserine mountains, once said to the Tunisian government: “We either live a good life or we all die.” Therefore, “Beware! Under the ashes burns the flame, and he who sows the thorns harvests the wounds.”

Translated from Arabi21, 21 January 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.