Hijacking the Tunisian revolution

2010–2011 Tunisian protests and resignation of Ben Ali

In response to the 2010–2011 Tunisian protests, Ben Ali declared a state of emergency in the country, dissolved the government on January 14, 2011, and promised new legislative elections within six months. But on that same day Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state television to say he was assuming power in Tunisia. Unconfirmed news reports, citing unidentified government sources in Tunisia, said that the President had left the country.[62][63] Gannouchi based his speech on Article 56 of the Tunisian constitution. However, the head of Tunisia's Constitutional Court, Fethi Abdennadher,[64] confirms that Gannouchi violated the constitution, as Article 56 is not applicable to current circumstances and requires a President. Article 57 of the constitution states that the President of the Parliament should take the executive power and organize an election in 45 to 60 days. It was soon confirmed, however, that Ben Ali had indeed fled, allegedly taking 1.5 tons of the country's gold with him.[65] On January 26, 2011, INTERPOL confirmed that its National Central Bureau (NCB) in Tunis has issued a global alert via INTERPOL's international network to seek the location and arrest of former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and six of his relatives.

Jasmine Revolution
Dubbed the Jasmine revolution, Tunisia's uprising was driven by the youth of the country. It all started with a young man who set himself ablaze, igniting a popular rebellion. The young dominated the scene and over the past month dozens of young people have been killed confronting the authority's use of deadly force. In a country where half the population is under the age of 25, that is a lot of disenfranchised, disenchanted ... just plain dissed young people. It was a popular, organic revolt, with no external influence or firebrand clerics leading it. There was really no prominent leadership at all - just young people expressing their seething frustrations and taking to the streets. Some have called it the Facebook or Twitter revolution because social media played a critical role in fanning the flames of discontent and spreading the news to a captivated world. But is Tunisia's Jasmine revolution entering a new phase? Driven by the youth and trade unions, are professional politicians now hijacking the Tunisian uprising? How do the young people of Tunisia feel about the course their revolution is taking? In this special show from Tunis, Inside Story presenter James Bays discusses.

Will professional politician and opportunists hijacking the fruit of Jasmine Revolution?......




Relaed article
1. Is Tunisia the first domino to fall?, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tunisia/8263177/Is-Tunisia-the-first-domino-to-fall.html
2. AP Interview: Tunisian opposition fears chaos, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibaLEW6gksH1eo7jwYgvu2v5kwvg?docId=8f6e3124b57c4656bfa8598b0bfba15e
3. Tunisia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia