There is a general belief that citizens of Middle Eastern countries are all suppressed, so accustomed to the policies of their governments and lacking a tradition of rising up against authority. Nowadays, one of these countries’ citizens are challenging this common understanding/prejudice: the Tunisians.
Tunisia, considered a police state in which rallies and riots normally do not take place, has been struggling with public unrest for more than a week. The protests started in Sidi Bouzid and directed attention to economic but in particular unemployment problems plaguing Tunisia. That the state has neglected its citizens’ social and economic needs became more apparent with the recent developments.
Being one of the first countries in the region to open up its markets to the global economy, its economy dealt with the 2009 global economic crisis well according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists. However, it seems the country was unsuccessful in lowering the unemployment rate and generating new jobs for educated newcomers.
The country’s economy is highly dependent on the European Union, Tunisia’s main export partner. The economy has proven fragile because it relies on foreign investment. This is in addition to its inability to create new job opportunities.
With its popular touristic places, beaches and desert, one of Tunisia’s foremost income sources is tourism, which along with textiles and agriculture establishes the main driving forces behind the country’s economy. In this respect, it is hard to say that these sectors provide new jobs for new graduates entering the labor market. The economy, mostly based on exports to the EU and the aforementioned low-skill sectors, does not draw a reliable and sustainable economic portrait. With this economic strategy, it is for sure that the balance between job seekers with a high education and employment opportunities will not be reached in the near future.
Another important problem is the lack of transparency, which limits protection for new local investors and in turn leads to weak entrepreneurship. Therefore, it poses another obstacle to job creation.
There also seems to be a corrupt system in which Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his cronies reap the benefits. President Ben Ali, who came to power in 1987, was re-elected in 2009 for a fifth term by getting 89 percent of the vote and defined protestors as a “minority of extremists” who act against the interests of the country. However, considering the data and the driving force behind the protests -- unemployment -- it is questionable that the unemployed people can be seen as a minority within the country. Although the Tunisian economy grew by 3.8 percent last year, the unemployment rate, which is around 14-15 percent according to official data, could not be reduced.
The patronage system common to most Arab countries and Ben Ali’s loss of connection with the people of Tunisia corrupts the system as well. What is more, Ben Ali silences the opposition and restricts human rights within the country. Tunisian media are strictly controlled. The regime is obsessed with controlling information and applies heavy censorship on the Internet as well. Therefore, bribery, favoritism and injustice apparently rule the country.
There is also obvious misdistribution and unequal development between the cities. While many cities sparkle with luxurious hotels and malls, golf and thalasso spa centers, many others, such as Sidi Bouzid, are not included in the models of development and distribution. The southern parts of the country receive very little in terms of social services and infrastructural support while the north becomes relatively wealthier, mostly thanks to tourism.
An economic miracle?
The country is always considered a miracle in the region in economic terms. If the economic progress was this high, what happened to the money flowing into the country then? Many people think the money fills the pockets of Ben Ali and his family.
As a consequence of all these pitfalls of the Tunisian economic system, public reaction culminated with the protests spreading from one city to another, although it is not common to see rallies in Tunisia. First, educated young people and their hopelessness became apparent with grief-stricken suicides. Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university graduate, set himself on fire on Dec. 17, 2010, accelerating the unrest within the society. Unable to find a job, Bouazizi sold fruits and vegetables from a street stand that was then confiscated by police because it lacked a state license. It was the first recent outcry of the unemployed youth of Tunisia. Tension increased when another jobless young man, Lahseen Naji, electrocuted himself. Following these incidents, Ramzi al-Abboudi killed himself over unpaid debts. This then led Sidi Bouzid and surrounding towns to start a riot against the government.
On Dec. 29, President Ben Ali announced a cabinet reshuffle. The minister of communication was replaced with the former youth and sports minister and the religious affairs minister with the trade minister. However, it is questionable how effective this cabinet reshuffle will be. Are the unemployed youth interested in these replacements? The protests obviously did not aim to make a change in the cabinet but in the problematic system.
All in all, all these developments show that Tunisia needs new kinds of policies which will take the needs and demands of the population into consideration as well as leave space for criticism and tolerating public dissent. A viable strategy needs to be planned and followed in order to integrate the country’s excess human capital. It is debatable whether all these can be achieved in the Ben Ali period; however, all these protests are hoped to bring a positive economic revolution within Tunisia.
Note: This op-ed is first published at Today's Zaman.
0 comments:
Post a Comment