Jan 14 2011
Democracy in the News 1: Student-led protests lead to president’s resignation
The BBC reports that after 23 years in power Tunisia’s president has resigned and dissolved parliament. Since the country declared independence from France in 1956, Mr. Ben Ali has only been the second president.
The article states that Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, now 74, has fled the country after student-led protests over economic matters led him to resign. The protests turned grotesque when the police tried to calm the crowds with tear gas and open fire. Aljazeera reports that
“The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights has tallied 66 deaths since the protests began after a 26-year-old unemployed university graduate set himself on fire in protest in the town of Sidi Bouzid on December 17″.
A Toronto Star writer has suggested “Democracy as a fix” for the Tunisian crisis. The article suggests that “Tunisians deserve better: Genuine democracy, not the tightly managed kind they have grown used to”.
It goes without saying that Tunisia is need of not only a new government that meets the needs and demands of the citizens (such as lowering food prices and restructuring the economy in hopes of creating jobs for graduates) but also a reworking of their government structure. It seems that the protests have lead the people of Tunisia to not settle for subtle changes. Clearly the cries for change have been loud enough to make a president resign and now that the people of Tunisia have seen that change is within reach, they will most likely not settle for another corrupt government ran by authoritarians like Mr. Ben Ali.
Nice post, I’ve been following the situation in Tunisia too. The violent put down of protests by the armed forces reminds me of the rigged election protests in Iran back in 2009. Very volatile situation, really makes you appreciate the democracy and civil liberties we have in Canada. Can’t take those for granted when you hear about conflicts like this!
I’m taking a class on Arab politics and government, so I have closely followed this event. Today I read about this http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Ex-prez-wifes-greed-drove-revolution-in-Tunisia-/articleshow/7309263.cms, but have yet to actually see the article that Le Monde presented. Very interesting though…