Tunisian Revolution 2010-2011



Tunisians demanding the ouster of President Ben Ali

 The revolution of the Tunisian people is also one of the major events that happened end of 2010 and ended when its president, President Ben Ali who ruled the country for 24 years was finally ousted mid January 2011. It was good news that the revolution ended just over a month. Again as it is with all types of government whose presidents had ruled for more than 15-20 plus years, the people of these countries will come to a point when they will protest "enough is enough." They will demand for a new president and a new administration. Unfortunately most presidents who rule a country for a long period of time are usually intoxicated by their power and eventually that is when corruption within their administration starts.

In Tunisia the people's demonstration is about government corruption, the lavish lifestyle and illicit business deals of the presidency including the president's wife and family, unemployment, food inflation, freedom of speech and poor living conditions. The incident that greatly instigated the revolution was the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi (dousing himself with flammable liquid and setting himself on fire). He did this because a policewoman who confiscated his unlicensed vegetable cart fined him a day's wage. The policewoman also slapped and spit on his face and insulted his deceased father. Humiliated he went to the provincial headquarters in Sidi Bouzid to complain only to find out he was to be ignored by local officials. After an hour Mohamed Bouazizi came back to the provincial headquarters and set himself on fire. This incident outraged the Tunisian people (even more) who in the first place are really unhappy with their government. The coming days and weeks to come saw an intense Tunisian Revolution. The revolution demanding the ouster of its president, a change of administration and a better Tunisia. Sadly some people committed suicide to protest against the government, violent clashes between the Tunisian military and civilians occurred, looting and some civil unrest amongst the Tunisians. Finally on Jan. 14th, President Ben Ali fled the country to Malta. Presently, the government of Tunisia is slowly rebuilding their government. We must all hope for a better future for Tunisia and its people.

Once again it shows us that presidents are public servants of their country. Any ruling party should be fair and should only stay in power for the duration mandated by their constitution. Yes I know...i know it is wishful thinking but that is what we can hope for, unfortunately not all governments and ruling parties are the same.

Photo Credit: Tunisian Protest
Photographer: Khaled Abdelmoumen
Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rais58/