AIn the heart of Tunis, on this section of Avenue Bourguiba where the last days of the 2011 revolution were played out, tens of thousands of Tunisians gathered in front of the Ministry of the Interior, today there are only police officers. The reason ? Containment begins today. In a startling short cut, the worsening health situation struck democratic commemoration. For some, January 14 is just a public holiday; for others, a historic date; for a third category, a source of discontent. Among the merchants of the Medina, one will find nostalgic indecrottables, the portrait of Ben Ali under the counter, within easy reach. Ten years ago, on January 14, 2011, 5:49 p.m., Ben Ali fled his country which he had turned into a barracks to join Saudi Arabia, the terminus of Arab dictators. He had tried in vain to reach France, his loyal support for twenty-three years, but Paris had not known him for a few hours. Without weapons or leaders, with “dignity” as a slogan, a transversal word, hundreds of thousands of Tunisians had succeeded in overthrowing the police state which mistreated them. We planted the foundations for a democratic transition, we founded free elections, a new political regime, a Constitution was voted almost unanimously by Parliament on January 26, 2014, the international democracies cherished this new entrant, a rooted root in Arab soil crippled by authoritarian regimes. This January 14, 2021, neither cake nor flowers to accompany the tenth anniversary of the said revolution. The country is confined. This is a point common to the ten years that have followed one another: never has the historic event been entitled to a popular celebration, a day when the whole country dances, sings, discusses, shares the achievements. No celebration apart from official ceremonies and equally official speeches held in palaces, an event generally reserved for an elite and a quota of revolutionaries, nothing.
From January 15, 2011, the daily won to the detriment of all other considerations, no authority has been able to impose an annual fiesta. For several years, Tunisians have received marks of attention from all over the world. The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the four organizers of the national dialogue. A G7 was dedicated to him, distinguished visitors followed one another in Tunis, the donors (IMF, EU, BM, EBRD, etc.) did not skimp on aid, loans, donations. The nation’s indebtedness has jumped by thirty points, and debt interest service now occupies a significant portion of the state budget. And here is that the virus, its political management in two stages, invites itself for Year X of the Arab Spring, multiplying the puns on “the containment of the revolution”.
Virus: forgotten the Tunisian example of spring 2020
When the pandemic first appeared last winter, Tunis made clear, neat decisions that did not suffer from vagueness. Containment was introduced in March April, cutting short the expansion of Covid19. On July 1, four and a half months after the virus appeared in the Maghreb, the country had 1,172 cases and 50 deaths. An example of crisis management, a success. Six months later, the country records 3,000 new cases per day, more than 70 deaths per day: the figures for four months are now collected every 24 hours. The Scientific Council had put “on the table” a request for reconfinement for several weeks. The political power – entangled in problems of reshuffle and struggles between Carthage, the Casbah and some parties – procrastinated. The reopening of the borders on June 27 as well as a certain recklessness regarding masks and barrier gestures boosted the spread of the Covid. In March 2020, the Minister of Health and his counterpart of the Interior (Hichem Mechichi, current president of the government) had mentioned the risk of “war medicine” at the entrance to hospitals. This January 14 marks the entry into the new confinement. It was announced for a period of four days while the scientific council requested several weeks. It is very likely that it will be extended. Schools, mosques or parks are closed. On this funny anniversary day, The Tunisian Press, the French-language daily, set the tone for the media: “meager record, generalized despair”. The night before, we could see on television an ex-propagandist of Ben Ali receiving a professional of the revolution: another striking shortcut. The enemies of yesterday are now palaver in prime time. If Tunisians are anxious, unhappy, they can say so freely.
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