Ref: AD-2904
Summary: Tunisia’s president rode to power in 2019 on a tidal wave of Millennial votes; six years later he has failed to deliver on their hopes and a younger cohort, the GenZs, less imbued with the idealism of the 2011 Revolution are taking to the streets with concrete demands.
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History is a useful reminder of the importance of the phosphate and fertiliser sector in Tunisia, a sector which has self destructed since Ben Ali was driven from power in 2011. A revolt in the phosphates mines above Gafsa was fiercely repressed during the first six months of 2008, a clear warning to the regime and countries which had close relations with Tunisia – nobody paid much attention.
This vital sector was once famous for its innovation and played a key economic role but the growing challenge of pollution in Gabès and further north in Sfax has never been addressed. Morocco’s phosphate sector was a laggard in 2000, now Tunisia’s key industrial sector is being destroyed by politicians whose populism equals their economic ignorance. For a history of this key sector, you could do worse than to read this chapter of a book I co-wrote a few years ago.
I agree with everything you wrote. But, aside from the populism and economic ignorance, let’s not forget about those who ruled, for more than a decade; what’ve they done for the phosphate sector and other fields? Nearly nothing. They just kept repeating some “big” words (freedom, freedom of speech, people’s dignity, etc.), whereas they could’ve thought about solutions to the challenges the country was already facing in 2011, and especially used the money from the external (especially Western) financial aid they received. As for Morocco, one of the things that has contributed to getting Morocco to where it is now, compared to Tunisia, is the absence, or rather the limited power/impact of unions; Morocco doesn’t have many strikes and mostly none, since the military personnel are in all different fields.