Villa of the fled President is burning away just fine
Recent color revolution — this time the Tunisian one — has already been dubbed the jasmine one and has been considered to be yet another democratic victory. Commentators tend to think that Tunisians have demonstrated their urge for democracy and disproved a thought that Arabs can exist only under the rough authoritarian regime. I have a completely different opinion about that.
I’m sure that Tunisians — frustrated with the poverty and desperateness — have no interest in the liberal values at all. What they have interest in are the banal, yet essentially important things for a person to survive — food, water and a roof over your head. Tunisian common folk was deprived of those for their entire history. It was bad during the rule of the overthrown President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, it wasn’t any better during his predecessor Ḥabīb Būrqība and it was all the same during the Tunisian indepence era. However, if one thinks that the life was easier while French were in charge, he’s wrong. Tunisians have never ever eaten their fill. Perhaps, somewhen they might have thought that that’s how it shoud be, but since Tunis became the tourist Mecca — annually visited by thousands of Europeans — and the locals were forced to look at them eating, drinking and paying a hundred dollars for meal (sufficient for a Tunisian family make ends meet for a month) they’ve seemingly understood that there’s another life as well. Unfortunately, era of romantic liberty-loving rebellions has gone never to return (which I’ve already mentioned in my article „Students as the touchstone of civilization’s development”).
We may, of course, partially agree with an opinion of certain commentators, stating that Tunisian “revolution” was Julian Assange’s fault, who published an information regarding the luxurious lifestyle of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. This gourmet used to send his private jet to Sen-Trope to bring him an ice-cream.
Everything started from the suicide of 26-year-old Mohammed Buazizi, who poured himself with gas and commited an act of self-immolation, as long as he was unable to make his living in no other way than selling fruits at the market, although having a university diploma. This episode — pardon me this play on words — became the spark that set the fire of revolution in Tunis.
The state where each on of 50 citizens serves in military or police (army-police strength ratio is 30 thousands of servicemen to 160 thousands of policemen) failed to stand a clash against its own nation. Everyone knows what happened next. President has fled at his Air Force One, Tunis was salvaged. However, it’s all just for show. Yet another vurtuos ruler is to come and rob his own people as it happened before him — what an endless grief. Is there a way out of this dead-end? I have no idea but how about inviting the French back?
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