Reuters
The tenth anniversary of the fall of the regime of the late Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali passes amid a complete closure in the country due to the outbreak of Corona, which prevents thousands of demonstrators from taking to the streets as usual.
The head of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, Alaa Talbi, says, “It was supposed to go to protest on Habib Bourguiba Street, in the center of the Tunisian capital, to demand more social justice, because the governments that have been in succession since 2011 did not pay attention to this demand … But on January 14th I will stay.” At home for the first time in ten years, because the health crisis is severe and strong measures must be taken. “
For weeks, the country has recorded more than fifty deaths a day. And many officials in the health sector warned of problems in providing oxygen and resuscitation beds in a number of hospitals in the governorates.
The Tunisian General Labor Union called for weeks to demonstrate and demand employment and development in major provinces in the country, such as Sfax and Gafsa, but participation was weak and some were postponed.
Many Tunisians are frustrated by high unemployment, inflation and the deteriorating health sector. The repercussions of the epidemic exacerbated the difficult economic situation, and the country lost a large number of jobs.
On January 14, 2011, after weeks of peaceful protests that began after a young street vendor of vegetables, Mohamed Bouazizi, set fire to his body in the marginalized province of Sidi Bouzid (center), thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the headquarters of the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior and in Habib Bou Raqiba Street, and demanded his departure Ben Ali’s regime.
Ben Ali left Tunisia that night for Saudi Arabia, where he lived in exile for a few years, out of the limelight, before he died in 2019.
Source: “AFP”
