Country Profile
Tunisia,officially the Tunisian Republic is the Northernmost Country in Africa. Tunisia is bordered by Algeria to the west,Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east.
2011 Tunisian Uprising -Timeline
On Dec 17,2010,Mohammed Bouazizi an 26-year-old man trying to support his family by selling fruits and vegetables in the central town of Sidi Bouzid, douses himself in paint thinner and sets himself on fire in front of a local municipal office
The protests begin in Sidi Bouzid that same day and they quickly spread across the region, then the country.
On Dec 22,2010,Houcine Falhi a 22-year-old, commits suicide by electrocuting himself in the midst of another demonstration over unemployment in Sidi Bouzid after shouting "No to misery, no to unemployment!"
On Dec 24,2010,Mohammed Ammari, an 18-year-old protester, is shot and killed by police during violent demonstrations in the central town of Menzel Bouzaiene.
On Dec 25,2010,rallies spread to Kairouan, Sfax and Ben Guerdane.
Police had confiscated his produce cart because he lacked a permit and beat him up when he resisted. Local officials then refused his hear his complaint. He is taken to a hospital near Tunis for treatment of his third-degree burns.
Bouazizi's act of desperation highlights the public's boiling frustration over living standards, police violence, rampant unemployment, and a lack of human rights
On Dec 27,2010,Police and demonstrators scuffle as 1000 Tunisians hold a rally in Tunis, the capital, calling for jobs in a show of solidarity with those protesting in poorer regions. Demonstrations also break out in Sousse.
On Dec 28,2010,Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in a National Teelcast TV Broadcast warns that protests are unacceptable and will have a negative impact on the economy.
Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali criticises the "use of violence in the streets by a minority of extremists" and says the law will be applied "in all firmness" to punish protesters.
A handout picture released by the Tunisian Presidency shows Tunisian president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali (2nd from left) looking at Mohamed Al Bouazzizi (right), during his visit at the hospital in Ben Arous near Tunis on December 28, 2010. Mohamed Al Bouazzizi, a 26-year-old university graduate, who was forced to sell fruit and vegetables on the streets, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight on December 17, which left him in a serious condition with severe burns. Days of rioting in Tunisia by mostly jobless and frustrated young people protesting violently against the government has exposed the crippling unemployment problem in Tunisia
On Jan 05,2011, Mohammed Bouazizi who launched the uprising by setting himself on fire two and a half weeks earlier, dies of self-inflicted burns. A funeral is later held for him in Sidi Bouzid, his hometown.
On Jan 13,2011, Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali makes a televised address, announcing unprecedented concessions and vowing not to seek re-election in 2014,pledges to introduce more freedoms into society,institute widespread reforms and investigate the killings of protesters during demonstrations
Protesters demonstrate against Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunis January 14, 2011
A Tunisian demonstrator holds a cage and the national flag during a rally on January 14, 2011 outside the Interior ministry in Tunis, demanding President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's resignation
Demonstrators move away from teargas used by police during a demonstration in Tunis,Jan. 14, 2011
On Jan 14,2011, Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali imposes a state of emergency and fires the country' govt. and promises fresh legislative elections within six months in an attempt to quell mass dissent.
State media reports that gatherings of more than three people have been banned and "arms will be used if orders of security forces are not heeded."
That night, reports fly that the army has seized control of Tunisia's main airport and closed the country's airspace. Though members of his extended family are reportedly arrested,Tunisian PresidentBen Ali manages to leave country by plane
Mohammed Ghannouchi, the prime minister, appears on state television to announce that he is assuming the role of interim president under chapter 56 of the Tunisian constitution.
Ben Ali reportedly flies first toward Malta, then Paris, before finally turning around toward the Gulf, where he lands in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
On January 14, 2011 Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia, his 23-year rule toppled by 29 days of a popular uprising. A real revolution for a change.
On Jan 16,2011,tension and uncertainty grip Tunisia as military forces attempt to restore order.
On Jan 17,2011,Tunisian PM Mohammed Ghannouchi announce a new coalition Govt hoping to maintain the momentum of political progress to ward off fresh protests and also undercut gunmen loyal to the ousted president.
Tunisian PM Mohammed Ghannouchi also announces widespread reforms, promising press freedom, the lifting of a ban on human rights groups operating in Tunisia, and the release of political prisoners.
The new Govt announced includes several Ben Ali loyalists in key posts - including the defence, interior and foreign ministers - and few opposition members in lesser positions.
Exiled opposition leaders cry foul, saying they've been sidelined in the new "unity" government, which favours members of the old guard.
On Jan 18,2011,Unhappy with the lineup of the new government, Tunisians take to the streets in protest.Other opposition ministers threaten to quit, saying they do not want to be in a government with members of Ben Ali's former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD).
On Jan 20,2011,All ministers in the interim government quit Ben Ali's RCD party but remain in their cabinet posts. The central committee of RCD is dissolved, as many of the ministers were also committee members
On Jan 22,2011,thousands of protestor take to streets demanding removal of all RCD members from the interim government.
The secular opposition, angered by two assassinations in its ranks and emboldened by the army-backed toppling of Egypt's Islamist president, is trying to topple Tunisia's government led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda
It also wants to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, which is weeks away from finishing a draft constitution and election law
The powerful Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) called on its 600,000 members to join the rally
Mohamed Brahmi's Funeral Saturday July 27,2013
MohamedBrahmi's coffin, draped in the red-white Tunisian flag, was saluted by soldiers when the cortege left from his home toward El-Jellaz cemetery.
Emotions ran high as supporters of Brahmi, including family members, lifted the coffin to their shoulders before placing it on a military vehicle under armed escort.
A military helicopter overflew the capital as flags fluttered among the crowd waiting for the funeral procession along Habib Bourguiba Avenue, epicentre of the 2011 Arab Spring born in Tunisia.
Slogans vowing they will "avenge" Brahmi rose from the sea of mourners.
Police deployed reinforcements for the funeral attended by some 10,000 mourners, according to official estimates. Journalists gave a higher number of 15,000-20,000.
"Allahu akbar! (God is greatest). There is no God but Allah and martyrdom is his friend," mourners cried out at the cemetery.
Army chief of staff General Mohamed Salah Hamdi read the eulogy and an imam prayed, but there were no representatives from the ruling Islamist Ennahda party which the family blames for Brahmi's murder.
The coffin was then lowered into a grave in the "martyrs'" sector of the cemetery next to that of Belaid, in accordance with his wishes
Tunisian politician Mohamed Brahmi assassinated
Tunisian opposition party leader Mohamed Brahmi has been shot dead in the capital, Tunis, in the country's second political killing this year(In February2013, prominent secular politician Chokri Belaidwas killed)
Gunmen on a motorbike shot Mohamed Brahmi in his car in front of his wife and daughter outside his home in Tunison Thursday July 25,2013
Mohamed Brahmi(58) led the nationalist Movement of the People party.
Prime Minister Ali Larayedh condemned his assassination, but said: "We are against all calls to dissolve the government to create a [power] vacuum."Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou said on Friday July 26,2013 that Mohamed Brahmi was killed with the same weapon used to gun down Chokri Belaid in Feb 2013
Ali Larayedh,named new PM of Tunisia -Thursday Feb 21,2013
Tunisia's President
Moncef Marzouki has confirmed that Interior Minister Ali Larayedh will
succeed Hamadi Jebali as the new prime minister.The appointment has ended the tensions within Ennahda itself and many Tunisians hope it will lead to an end of political deadlock
Ali Larayedh, the chosen candidate of the governing Islamist party, Ennahda, has two weeks to form a new government.Hamadi Jebali Quits - Tuesday Feb 19,2013
Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned on Tuesday after his attempt to end a political stand-off by forming a government of technocrats failed.
"I vowed that if my initiative did not succeed, I would resign and ... I
have already done so," Jebali told a news conference after meeting with
President Moncef Marzouki
Tunisian Opposition Leader Chokri Belaid Shot Dead - Feb 6,2013
Chokri Belaid, leader of Unified Democratic Nationalist Party,who had been critical of the Islamist-led government and violence by radical Muslims has been shot dead, leading to anti-government riots.
Chokri Belaid, leader of the Unified Democratic Nationalist party, was shot outside his home in the capital by a man who fled on a motorcycle on Wednesday Feb 6,2013 morning. He died in hospital shortly afterwards.
Chokri Belaid was killed today by four bullets to the head and chest … doctors told.
The man who shot Belaid fled on a motorcycle ridden by an accomplice, according to the interior ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouch, who called the assassination a "terrorist act" and said the politician had been shot point-blank several times. Police have yet to arrest any suspects.
Tunisians carry the coffin of assassinated opposition leader Chokri Belaid ahead of his burial at El-Jellaz cemetery in a suburb of Tunis
The killing triggered a 1,000-strong protest outside the interior ministry. Police used teargas to disperse the protesters.
The Tunisian Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali, who heads the Ennahda-led government elected in 2011 in Tunisia's first post-Arab-spring election, said: "The murder of Belaid is a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution. By killing him they wanted to silence his voice."
Tunisia in the Arab Spring
- Dec 2010: Trader Mohammad Bouazizi sets himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, sparking anti-government protests, and later dies
- Jan 2011: Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stands down as president after escalating protests and clashes
- March 2011: New technocratic government announced by interim president
- Oct 2011: Tunisians vote in first elections of Arab Spring
- Dec 2011: Ex-dissident Moncef Marzouki chosen as president, with Ennahada's Hamadi Jebali as PM
- May 2012: Salafi Islamists clash with police amid a row over alcohol sales
- June 2012: Mr Ben Ali is sentenced to life in prison over the killing of protesters in the 2011 revolution. Saudi Arabia refuses extradition
- Feb 2013: Opposition politician Chokri Belaid shot dead; PM announces plans for technocratic government, a move rejected by Ennahada.
Tunisian Dictator’s Possessions to Be Sold at Public Auction
Tunisia's Finance Ministry has organized a public auction of cars, jewels, carpets and trinkets that once belonged to the deposed President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
The monthlong sale and exhibition of 12,000 items begins on Saturday Dec 22,2012.For the price of a 30-dinar ticket, about $20, curious Tunisians can gape freely at the former president’s collection.
The government aims to raise an estimated 20 million dinars, about $13 million.
Why Revolution in Tunisia?
A jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi was selling vegetables without a permit. When police seize his cart he sets fire to himself and later dies on Dec 17,2010. The act provokes young Tunisians to protest.After 10 days of protests, President Ben Ali appears on television promising action on job creation. He declares the law will be very firm on protesters.In Jan 2011,protesters set fire to cars in several Tunisian cities; security forces respond violently.On Jan 14,2011,Ben Ali finally bows to the protests and flees to Saudi Arabia by way of Malta.
The Tunisian Revolution is an intensive campaign of civil resistance including a series of street demonstrations taking place in Tunisia which began in December 2010 because of high unemployment;food inflation;corruption;lack of freedom of speech and other political freedoms and led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 ending 23 years in power(ruled Tunisia since 1987)
Hamada Ben Amar, a.k.a. El Général, Tunisian rapper whose song "Rais Lebled" became the anthem of the Jasmine Revolution. "We must not surrender our rights, these rights that we achieved through revolution and by eliminating this state called dictatorship in the Arab world''.
December 2010
The protests were sparked by the suicide of a young man(self immolation of Md Bouazizi) who could not find a job and was barred from selling fruit without a permit - December 17,2010
Houcine Falhi,a 22-year-old, commits suicide by electrocuting himself in the midst of another demonstration over unemployment in Sidi Bouzid after shouting "No to misery, no to unemployment!" - Dec 22,2010
Hundreds of protesters rally in front of the Tunisian labour union headquarters over rampant unemployment, clashing with Tunisian security forces in the central towns of al-Ragab and Miknassi.
Rallies spread to Kairouan, Sfax and Ben Guerdane.
Protesters hold a banner reading "Freedoom for the Tunisian People," during a demonstration to call for the resignation of Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali warns in a National TV Broadcast that protests are unacceptable and will have a negative impact on the economy. Ben Ali criticises the "use of violence in the streets by a minority of extremists" and says the law will be applied "in all firmness" to punish protesters.
Demonstrators hold placards reading "Ben Ali, get out!" in Tunis a day after he appeared on TV to try to stop deadly riots that have swept the North African nation.
Nessma TV, a private news channel, becomes the first major Tunisian media outlet to cover the protests, after 12 days of demonstrations.
Chawki Belhoussine El Hadri, shot by police 6 days earlier dies of his injuries.
January 2011
95 per cent of Tunisia's 8,000 lawyers launch a strike demanding an end to police brutality against peaceful protesters
Mohamed Bouazizi, who launched the uprising by setting himself on fire two and a half weeks earlier dies of self-inflicted burns
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali makes a televised address announcing -
unprecedented concessions and vowing not to seek re-election in 2014;
introduce more freedoms into society;
institute widespread reforms and
investigate the killings of protesters during demonstrations
The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights tallies 66 deaths since the protests began
President Zine El Abidine Ben officially resigned after fleeing to Saudi Arabia
The constitutional court, Tunisia's highest legal authority on constitutional issues states that Fouad Mebazaa,
the speaker of parliament, should be interim president under Article 57 of the Constitution
Md Ghannouchi forms a caretaker coalition government by including members of Ben Ali's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally(RCD) in key ministries and including other Opposition figures in other ministries.
Protests in Tunis and other towns around Tunisia demanded that the new government have no RCD members and that the RCD itself be disbanded
PM Md Ghannouchi reshuffled the government, removing all former RCD members other than himself.
February 2011
The new Interior Minister suspended all party activities of the RCD, citing security reasons - Feb 6,2011
Following further public protests, PM Md Ghannouchi himself resigned on 27 February, and Beji Caid el Sebsi becamePM
March 2011
Elections for the Constitutent Assembly announced - March 3,2011
The interim government announced that the secret police would be dissolved -March 7,2011
The party(RCD) was dissolved, as protesters had demanded - March 9,2011
Tunisian Constitutent Assembly Election - October 23,2011
18 of the 217 constituent assembly members represents Tunisians abroad. Almost a million Tunisians live abroad, with up to 500,000 Tunisians in France who elected10 representatives;
In the election,the Ruling Islamist Ennahda Party won the election winning 89 Seats.the details of seats won by the parties contesting the election are -
Tunisian New Assembly Hold its First Session - Nov 22,2011
Tunisia's 217-member constitutional assembly, elected after a revolution that inspired the "Arab Spring" uprisings, held its opening session on Tuesday Nov 22,2011.
The first tasks were formalities — swearing in PM Hamadi Jebali from the Ruling Islamist Ennahda Party(which won 89 of 217 assembly seats);
President Moncef Marzouki from the center-left Congress for the Republic party (which won 30 seats) and
Assembly Speaker Mustafa Ben Jafaar of the Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberties, or Ettakatol (which won 21 seats)
Members of the assembly, senior officials in the incoming coalition government, and ministers in the outgoing cabinet stood for the Tunisian national anthem in a ceremony to open the 217-seat assembly.
In its first act, the assembly voted to confirm Ben Jaafar as speaker.
Mustafa Ben Jafaar,Moncef Marzouki and Hamadi Jebali
A new cabinet line-up, with posts shared out between the three coalition partners, is to be announced soon.
Former Dissident BecomesTunisian President
Tunisia on Monday Dec 12,2011 installed Moncef Marzouki as its new president (a former dissident who was imprisoned and then exiled for opposing former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali )with 153 of the 202 votes cast.No other candidates were put forward. Marzouki will serve for a year until the constitution is re-written and new elections are held.
Marzouki was elected as part of a power-sharing deal between the moderate Islamist Ennahda party and its two smaller secularist coalition partners, Ettakatol and Marzouki's Congress for the Republic.Under the arrangement, Ennahda's secretary-general Hamadi Jbeli will hold the most powerful position, of prime minister, while Ettakatol leader Mustafa Ben Jaafar becomes speaker of the constitutional assembly.
A doctor and human rights campaigner, Marzouki was jailed in 1994 after challenging Ben Ali in a presidential election.He was released four months later when his case became the focus of an international campaign, but was forced to go into exile in France.Tunisia became the birth-place of the "Arab Spring" uprisings in January 2011 when protests forced Ben Ali, in power for more than 23 years, to flee to SaudiArabia.Days after protests forced Ben Ali to flee on January 14, Marzouki flew home from Paris.
Tunisia Celebrates First Anniversary Of Arab Spring - Dec 17,2011
Exactly one year ago(on Dec 17,2010)in a hardscrabble town in Tunisia's arid interior, the death knell sounded for the decades-old system of dictatorships across the Arab world.With a desperate act of self-immolation, a 26-year-old Sidi Bouzid fruit-seller unwittingly unleashed a year of turmoil that toppled at least three autocrats in a region once thought to be immune to democracy.
Tunisia's new leaders together with thousands of others took part in a festival starting Saturday in the town honoring the vendor, the revolution, and the protesters whose anger snowballed into a nationwide and then region-wide phenomenon
Tunisia unveils Bouazizi cart statue in Sidi Bouzid
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