First anniversary of Arab Spring in Tunisia

TUNIS – Masses of Tunisians marched in peaceful triumph on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of the revolution that ended the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali – and sparked uprisings around the Arab world.

Tunisia greeted the anniversary with prudent optimism, amid worries about high unemployment that cast a shadow over their pride at transforming the country.Now a human rights activist is president, and a moderate Islamist jailed for years by the old regime is prime minister at the head of a diverse coalition, after the freest elections in Tunisia’s history.Tunisia’s uprising began on December 17, 2010, when a desperate fruit vendor set himself on fire, unleashing pent-up anger and frustration among his compatriots, who staged protests that spread nationwide. Within less than a month, longtime president Ben Ali was forced out of power, and he fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011.Boisterous marches on Saturday reflected the country’s new atmosphere.On a crisp, sunny day in Tunisia’s capital, Islamists shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, or ‘God is Great’. Alongside them were leftists and nationalists celebrating freedom, and mourning the more than 200 people killed in the month-long uprising.Leading Arab dignitaries joined Tunisia’s leaders for anniversary ceremonies. They included Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika – who faced down protests in his own country last year; the head of Libya’s interim government, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who helped lead opposition to Muammar Gaddafi and the emir of Qatar.’The democratic process that has begun is now irreversible, after the dark period’ of the past, President and former exiled activist Moncef Marzouki said.Abdel-Jalil called the Tunisian revolution ‘a determining factor for the success of the uprising’ in Libya.The new leadership, to mark the anniversary, pardoned 9 000 convicts and converted the sentences of more than 100 prisoners from the death penalty to life in prison, the state news agency TAP reported.As the country that started the Arab Spring, Tunisia appears to be the farthest along in its transformation. Political analysts warn, however, that further gains will not be easy or painless.Unemployment has risen to almost 20 per cent today from 13 per cent a year ago, and economic growth has stagnated as investment dries up and tourism, once a pillar of Tunisia’s economy, evaporates.Tunisia under Ben Ali was renowned among European tourists for its sandy beaches and cosmopolitan ways. But for many of its people, Ben Ali’s presidency was 23 years of suffocating one-party rule. – Nampa-AP