Tunisia - A Democratic Revolution?

[Ti-Amie]

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/237468/thumbs/r-TUNISIA-PROTESTS-large570.jpg

Tunisia has been rocked by riots recently over unemployment and corruption, thought to have been sparked by the suicide of a young man who could not find a job and was barred from selling fruit without a permit.

The unrest culminated today with the ouster of president and strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced on state television that he had taken control of the country.

A cable released by WikiLeaks called Tunisia a "police state" and criticized Ben Ali for being out of touch with the people. This has fueled references to the current protests as a "WikiLeaks Revolution."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/tunisia-revolution-live-u_n_809294.html

[craighickman]

Woah.

From the same post via the Wall Street Journal:


Word that Tunisia's entrenched leader had fallen from power sent shockwaves across the Middle East. Arabs have been transfixed by Tunisians' rare display of grass-roots power and its culmination Friday in the ouster of the leader in one of the region's most authoritarian countries. Such an overthrow would be the region's biggest in decades, since Iran's 1979 overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah and mass demonstrations that toppled Sudan's government in the 1980s.

Activists and opposition figures in the wider Middle East say Tunisia's popular protests and clashes with police forces have broken a psychological barrier in other countries in the region with authoritarian regimes, political repression and a lack of jobs and opportunities. Friday's demonstration in Tunis, the largest public gathering in a generation, "may well go down in history as the Arab equivalent of the Solidarity movement in the Gdansk shipyard," said Rami Khouri, an Arab political commentator.

[Madame]

Tunisians in France are soooo happy. 23 years he has reigned, holding the power and the media, not allowing any democratic debate.

It is a big day when a dictator leaves like that. The tunisians have now to build a constitution and find some political figures to construct the future. It will take time but they are a very cultivated and toughtfull people.

[ponchi101]

So happy for Tunisia, jealous for my country. It shows what people can do, IF the army stands neutral.

[oploskoffie]

Whatever happens over the next months, for the people, please let it be good. With the looting and occasional shooting that's going on now, it'd be easy for the mood to take the wrong turn.

[suliso]

I wouldn't be surprised if the only result were and installation of another dictator... The current prime minister perhaps.

[Drop-shot]

I wouldn't be surprised if the only result were and installation of another dictator... The current prime minister perhaps.

And the winner of the "The Killers - Mr Brightside Award" goes to...