Before the coronavirus lockdown, Ahmed travelled the country buying fruit and vegetables to sell on to traders in Tunis. Even children aged 10 are angry. Thank God we have houses and food to eat. Yassine tells the story of a popcorn seller in Ettadhamen, a common sight in Tunisia, who was stopped by the police for not wearing a mask. Others are less approving of the unrest.
Salah, 40, complains of being tired. He has been up all night, protecting his white goods stall from potential looters. He points to the post office and the opticians further down the road, both of which he says were looted. Unemployment, especially among the young, has long been a driver of social unrest in Tunisia. The pandemic has made things worse. The country is reeling from the loss of its vital tourism sector, including the vast network of ancillary industries that provide produce and services to tourist resorts, and prospects are grim.
The situation has led many to migrate. And, obviously, we have seen cuts to subsidies of food and fuel recently, but also fundamental political infighting, right? From the get-go, the president and the prime minister have really been at odds with each other. Even though the president handpicked the prime minister, they have just been fighting with each other.
They have been publicly undermining each other, publicly speaking out against each other from the beginning. So, when this opportunity came for the president to unseat the prime minister, to remove him, he seized on it.
Tunisia was, of course, the only success story in the Arab Spring, a largely nonviolent removal of a leader, the establishment of a democracy. I think Tunisia's democracy still has a fighting chance. I think, if we look at the way these protests are being reported upon, the way that people are allowed to go into the streets, the way that people can criticize the government, they can go out there and call this a coup, and they're not getting arrested, that shows that democracy is alive and that it is functioning.
Now, this is a major threat to Tunisia's democracy. I think, when we look back at this in six months, maybe even a month, I might have something different to say. Maybe the democracy will have kind of ended. But, for now, I do think that we should still consider that democracy is alive. And we need to protect it.
The United States Europe, other democracies need to stand up and protect Tunisia's democracy while it is still alive. Today, the U. I think the U. I mean, that needs to go through the correct legal channels. But, frankly, I think that what we're seeing is that the United States is kind of biding its time. They're in a wait-and-see mode. They're not being forceful in condemning the actions that President Saied has taken. President Biden announced the end of U. But American troops have not been fighting combat in Iraq.
They have been advising and assisting. Why is it important for the U. Look, I think, first of all, this fits into Biden's greater world view, in that he's trying to get the United States out of the Middle East. But, domestically, for the Iraqis and for Kadhimi, I think this is helpful to him.
This helps show him the United States is no longer this kind of shadow hanging over them. He's facing all sorts of pressure to get the United States out. And so I think this is a little bit of a gift that Biden is giving Kadhimi in order to help him achieve his own domestic goals. Support Provided By: Learn more. Monday, Oct The Latest. World Agents for Change. Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. NewsHour Shop. The army has been deployed in four hot spots.
Since Friday, protest groups that are growing in size by the day have been out in force every night. They are staging simultaneous, often violent demonstrations in cities. People have been pelting municipal buildings with stones, throwing Molotov cocktails, looting, vandalizing and clashing with police.
The unrest is concentrated in poor, densely populated districts where trust with law enforcement is already lacking. Police said hundreds of protesters have been arrested. The precise causes are unclear, but the dire economic outlook of the stagnant country is at the heart of the dissatisfaction. A fifth of the country lives under the poverty line, according to the National Institute of Statistics. Flights have been grounded and potential tourists face lockdowns at home amid a general reluctance to travel as coronavirus variants race through nations and continents.
Amnesty International has implored Tunisian authorities to use restraint in calming tensions and uphold the rights of the many hundreds who have been detained, but authorities have been increasingly reliant on the army for help and have used tear gas against protesters. Others disagree.
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