Tunisia was known as the only success story of
Arab Spring that was first to topple over its long time dictator. But now the
same county is facing a democracy crisis, after having a successful decade long
run of established democracy. But all the accomplishments are now in jeopardy as
a result of political stronghold, corruption and destabilizing economy.
Tunisia has been witnessing withering economy and living standards since many years now. The credit for this goes to politicians who have deviated from giving a purposeful direction to country’s progress. Tunisia has seen many coalition governments come to power in quick succession. But none managed to bring a progressive successful direction to the country but rather what they brought in were new players that used Tunisia’s wealth and resources to their own interests, leading to corruption and increasing public frustration. Since Arab Spring to 2019, Tunisia has witnessed just an increase of 1.8% per year in economy on an average. Terrorist attacks and pandemic has further worsened the GDP.
What has made matters worse bringing the
country on verge of yet another civil war is the President Kais Saied, who is claiming
to act on behalf of the Tunisians. Kais Saied, a political outsider was elected
in 2019 as President by fed-up Tunisians in hope of some long awaited reforms.
About two weeks ago, Saied, who had seen enough of mess in Tunisia, fired Prime
Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended Parliament for 30 days. The move was
aimed to clean up political mess in the country as Saied announced his war against
widespread corruption and granted himself state prosecutor powers.
While opposition powers have called the move by President Saied a coup, Tunisians were seen rejoicing the decision on streets of the capital. The road ahead for Tunisia is still unknown but dangers are imminent as the democratic boundaries are untested as the current political scenario has rendered the country quite vulnerable.
While opposition powers have called the move by President Saied a coup, Tunisians were seen rejoicing the decision on streets of the capital. The road ahead for Tunisia is still unknown but dangers are imminent as the democratic boundaries are untested as the current political scenario has rendered the country quite vulnerable.
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