Tunisia
French government promotes pseudo-left opposition parties in Tunisia
By Kumaran Ira, 7 March 2013
After Chokri Belaïd’s assassination, Paris is seeking to advance the petty-bourgeois Popular Front to advance its imperialist interests in Tunisia.
New prime minister in Tunisia
By Antoine Lerougetel, 25 February 2013
The bourgeois media is seeking to endow ex-Prime Minister Hamad Jebali with democratic credentials, despite his role in betraying the aspirations of the workers and youth who overthrew the dictator Ben Ali and repressing social protests.
Tunisian government begins to unravel
By Antoine Lerougetel, 12 February 2013
The murder last Wednesday of anti-Islamist politician Chokri Belaïd has undermined the government coalition, whose main component is the Islamist Ennahda Party.
General strike, mass protests shake US-backed Islamist regime in Tunisia
By Barry Grey, 9 February 2013
The current political eruption in Tunisia, the most widespread since the events of late 2010 and early 2011, occurs just days before the second anniversary of the fall of US-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
Murder of secular politician sparks mass protests in Tunisia
By Antoine Lerougetel, 8 February 2013
Mass protests and attacks on the ruling Islamist Ennahda party offices broke out throughout Tunisia after the assassination of a prominent Tunisian secular politician
Tunisian UGTT union calls off one-day national strike against Islamists
By Antoine Lerougetel and Alex Lantier, 19 December 2012
At the last minute, the UGTT union called off a one-day national strike called against the assault by Islamist thugs on UGTT members.
Tunisian UGTT union calls one-day national strike
By Antoine Lerougetel, 10 December 2012
The UGTT union has called a one-day national strike for December 13, amid rising working class protests and clashes with right-wing Islamist groups.
Mass opposition to Tunisian repression of anti-poverty protests
By Antoine Lerougetel, 4 December 2012
Police have brutally repressed protests against the scrapping of programmes against poverty and unemployment in the town of Siliana in Tunisia.
Islamist thugs attack Tunisian unemployed workers’ protest in Sidi Bouzid
By Antoine Lerougetel, 29 August 2012
Police stood aside last week as hundreds of Salafist thugs attacked workers and youth in Sidi Bouzid, the starting point of the Tunisian Revolution and the Arab Spring.
Strikes and protests sweep Tunisia
By Jean Shaoul, 17 August 2012
On Tuesday, several thousand workers demonstrated in Sidi Bouzid.
Tunisian ruling seeks to exonerate Ben Ali police officials
By Anthony Torres, 27 June 2012
On June 14 former President Ben Ali, along with 22 Interior Ministry officials, stood trial of for the massacres in Thala and Kasserine during the Tunisian revolution.
Protests in Tunisia greet one-year anniversary of Ben Ali’s overthrow
By Alex Lantier, 16 January 2012
Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s ignominious flight from Tunisia to exile in Saudi Arabia.
Tunisia delays forming government amid a new wave of strikes
By Kumaran Ira, 15 November 2011
Rising strikes in Tunisia underscore continuing popular opposition to the political establishment, which has still not succeeded in assembling a government after the latest elections.
Islamists claim victory in Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly elections
By Kumaran Ira and Alex Lantier, 28 October 2011
Tunisia held elections Sunday to elect a 217-member Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a new constitution after mass protests toppled President Ben Ali this January.
Tunisians distrust upcoming Constituent Assembly election
By Kumaran Ira, 17 October 2011
The Constituent Assembly election in Tunisia, slated to draft a new constitution, is scheduled for October 23.
Tunisian interim government faces widespread opposition
By Kumaran Ira, 25 August 2011
Anti-government protests took place across Tunisia on August 15. Thousands of Tunisians participated, denouncing the interim government and calling for its resignation.
Low voter registration for the Tunisian Constituent Assembly elections
By Antoine Lerougetel, 10 August 2011
The lack of popular interest in the Constituent Assembly elections is a devastating verdict on the Tunisian Transitional Government’s attempts to give itself a veneer of pseudo-democratic legitimacy.
Tunisian police attack anti-government protests
By Kumaran Ira, 22 July 2011
In recent days Tunisian security forces have violently attacked a new wave of anti-government protests across the country.
Tunisian interim government delays Constituent Assembly elections
By Kumaran Ira, 29 June 2011
On June 8, the interim Tunisian government decided to postpone the Constituent Assembly elections to October 23.
Tunisian interim prime minister visits France ahead of G8 summit
By Kumaran Ira, 27 May 2011
Tunisian interim prime minister Beji Caid Essebsi met with French president Nicolas Sarkozy on May 17-18 to plan joint strategy against continuing protests in Tunisia.
Tunisian regime creates electoral commission amid mass strikes
By Kumaran Ira, 17 May 2011
Last Monday, the Tunisian interim government announced the formation of the independent electoral committee to oversee the July 24 election of a constituent assembly.
Tunisian regime imposes curfew amid protests over coup threat
By Niall Green and Kumaran Ira, 9 May 2011
Demonstrators in Tunisia calling for a “new revolution” were brutally attacked by riot police after warnings of a possible military coup.
International finance presses for counter-revolution in Tunisia
By Olivier Laurent, 5 May 2011
The political reforms in Tunisia aim to remove people from power who are too politically associated with the dictator Ben Ali, whilst justifying the maintenance of the social conditions against which the Tunisian masses revolted.
Tunisian Reform Commission defends capitalist regime
By Kumaran Ira and Alex Lantier, 30 March 2011
On March 26 Tunisia’s Commission for the Achievement of the Objectives of the Revolution and the Democratic Transition was enlarged from 70 to 130 members in a closed-door session.
Tunisia prime minister resigns amid mass demonstrations
By Patrick Martin, 28 February 2011
Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned less than 48 hours after 100,000 people marched through the capital demanding his ouster.
New protests rock Tunisian government
By Patrick Martin, 22 February 2011
Two days of anti-government protests in Tunisia have thrown the interim regime that succeeded ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into crisis.
French government embarrassed by its ties to North African dictatorships
By Antoine Lerougetel and Alex Lantier, 9 February 2011
The mass protests in North Africa against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who fled his country on January 14, are shaking the French government.
Tunisian regime seeks emergency powers against mass protests
By Alex Lantier, 8 February 2011
Yesterday the Tunisian parliament’s lower house voted to grant emergency powers to Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, the head of the interim Tunisian regime.
Tunisian uprising continues
By Ann Talbot, 2 February 2011
With a series of strikes breaking out, the Tunisian revolt is taking on a more working class character.
The anti-socialist politics of Tunisia’s official “opposition”
By Kumaran Ira, 1 February 2011
On January 28, the Ettajdid movement held a public debate in Paris on the recent uprising in Tunisia that forced out the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
An errand-boy for French imperialism: NPA’s Olivier Besancenot visits Tunisia
By Alex Lantier, 31 January 2011
On January 25-26, New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) spokesman Olivier Besancenot made a perfunctory visit from France to Tunisia.
US, interim government conspire against Tunisian masses
By Ann Talbot, 29 January 2011
The interim Tunisian government has announced a ministerial reshuffle in an effort to maintain its hold on power in the face of continuing protests.
Egypt, Tunisia, and the fight against US imperialism
By Bill Van Auken, 28 January 2011
Two weeks after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Arab leaders that their region’s “foundations are sinking into the sand”, the growing revolutionary upsurge of the masses has revealed that the pillars of Washington’s own policy in the Middle East are rotten and crumbling.
US pursues two-track policy to suppress protests in Egypt and Tunisia
By Barry Grey, 27 January 2011
The United States is working intensively to suppress mass protests in both Tunisia and Egypt and prop up the local ruling elites that are entirely subordinate to American imperialism.
Police crackdown in Tunisia meets resistance
By Ann Talbot, 25 January 2011
Tunisian police used tear gas against protesters gathered outside the office of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi on Monday morning.
Tunisian popular revolt exposes France’s middle-class “left”
By Alex Lantier, 25 January 2011
Mass protests that forced out Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali have dealt a blow to the pretensions of middle-class “far left” groups in France such as the New Anti-Capitalist Party.
Anti-government protests continue in Tunisia during official mourning period
By Ann Talbot, 22 January 2011
Protests have continued in Tunisia on the first of three days of national mourning for those who died in the uprising.
ثورة شعبية تجتاح تونس وآمال في ثورة دائمة
22 January 2011
تعتبر الأحداث الأخيرة في تونس علامة مميزة على ظهور نقطة تحول عملية التطور العالمي، فبعد أن كانت ردود الأفعال الباطشة تنجح دائمًا وكان الصراع الطبقي مكبوحاً لعشرات السنين، جاءت المظاهرات الحاشدة وانتهاء فترة القمع التي دامت 23 عاماً على يد زين العابدين بن علي منذرة بانطلاق عصر جديد سمته الحركات الثورية.
Middle East and North Africa feel repercussions of Tunisian revolution
By Ann Talbot, 21 January 2011
“The Tunisian revolution is not far from us,” Amr Moussa told the 22 members of the Arab League gathered at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik for an economic summit.
The American middle class “left” and the Tunisian revolt
By Jerry White, 21 January 2011
Various pseudo-left organizations in Europe and the United States are promoting the General Union of Tunisian Workers as the leading force of the uprising that toppled dictator Ben Ali.
Thousands march against Tunisia’s “unity” government
By Bill Van Auken, 20 January 2011
Thousands marched again Wednesday in the center of Tunis and in other Tunisian cities demanding the ouster of the deposed dictator’s ministers and the dissolution of his ruling party.
Tunisia’s “unity” government fractures as protests continue
By Chris Marsden, 19 January 2011
At least five ministers have been forced to quit Tunisia’s National Unity Government, less than a day after it was formed, in the face of mass hostility to its domination by the party of deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
WikiLeaks and Tunisia
By Patrick Martin, 19 January 2011
American foreign policy specialists have described the events in Tunisia over the past week as the “first WikiLeaks revolution.”
Tunisia forms unity government dominated by ruling party
By Chris Marsden, 18 January 2011
The National Unity Government announced by Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi is a coming together of all factions of Tunisia’s ruling elite against the working class, students and small farmers.
Tunisian events expose pro-imperialist policy of France’s New Anti-Capitalist Party
By Kumaran Ira, 18 January 2011
The reaction of the French petty-bourgeois pseudo-left to the mass protests that forced Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from office demonstrates their allegiance to imperialism.
Tunisian ruling elite promises national government, imposes military rule
By Chris Marsden, 17 January 2011
Tunisia’s ruling elite is seeking to secure its rule in the aftermath of the popular insurgency that forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country and take refuge in Saudi Arabia.
The mass uprising in Tunisia and the perspective of permanent revolution
By World Socialist Web Site editorial board, 17 January 2011
After decades of triumphant reaction and suppression of the class struggle, the eruption of mass protests in Tunisia and the end to 23 years of repressive rule by President Ben Ali signal the emergence of a new era of revolutionary upheavals.
Tunisian president flees the country
By Ann Talbot, 15 January 2011
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has fled Tunisia. A state of emergency has been declared. The army has taken control of the airport, and gatherings of more than three people have been banned.
Social conflict in Maghreb has international implications
By Ann Talbot, 14 January 2011
Continuing protests in Tunisia and Algeria threaten to spread to the whole of the Maghreb region and, beyond that, to engulf the Middle East, where the same conditions of poverty and insecurity exist.
Curfew ordered in Tunisian capital
By Tom Eley, 13 January 2011
Tunisia imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Tunis after protests against joblessness, high prices, and government corruption erupted in the capital city on Wednesday.
Reports reveal state massacre of Tunisian protesters
By Alex Lantier, 12 January 2011
Reports emerged yesterday of large-scale killings by Tunisian security forces of protesters rioting against joblessness and poor social conditions under the dictatorial Ben Ali regime.
Riots shake Tunisia and Algeria
By Alex Lantier, 10 January 2011
Mass protests against social inequality, food prices, and government repression spread from Tunisia to Algeria last week.
Police open fire as protests spread in Tunisia
By Ann Talbot, 30 December 2010
Demonstrators clashed with security forces as protests against unemployment spread across Tunisia.
Follow us on