Tunisia- Thirteen years after the Jasmine Revolution, the saying "It is as if, O Abu Zaid, you have not conquered" seems more resonant than ever, reflecting the dire conditions faced by residents of the Tunisian Revolution's birth cities. The cold and dismal January winds mirror the bleeding hearts and empty pockets of its people. Sidi Bouzid, where the spark of the revolution ignited, along with Kasserine and Gafsa, supported the uprising before it spread to other cities.
The same revolutionary slogans continue to be raised in these three governorates. The central cry for "bread" symbolized by "Bread, water, no to Ben Ali" has vanished from their bakeries. Men, women, and children queue up, jostling around bread baskets, in scenes that have become all too common.
Since President Kais Saied announced his exceptional measures on July 25, 2021, the country has faced a suffocating financial and economic situation. The purchasing power of Tunisians has deteriorated due to inflation, and essential goods like grains, sugar, and vegetable oil have become acutely scarce in markets.
Continued Marginalization
In Sidi Bouzid, considered the cradle of the revolution that toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime, only a cart belonging to Mohamed Bouazizi and a large sign of him stand as silent witnesses to a revolution that once blazed here. The poor city has seen little change, and employment promises and planned projects have not moved beyond rhetoric.
Most Sidi Bouzid residents we spoke to doubt the effectiveness of development programs and the authorities' seriousness in implementing them. Projects endorsed by previous ministerial councils, such as major markets, a medical college, a university hospital, and a highway, as well as the fight against poverty and unemployment through positive discrimination between regions, have failed to materialize.
Mohamed Jabeli tells Al Jazeera Net, "Sidi Bouzid has reaped nothing but unfulfilled projects from the revolution, throughout the successive governments, up to President Kais Saied's coup path." Poverty and unemployment rates have increased, exacerbating the country's economic crisis.
Amal Hani believes that "despite the pure blood and wounds of the revolution's youth, governments have failed to learn the lesson. The revolution's train has not moved an inch toward realizing the dreams of justice and social equity envisioned by the youth in poor governorates." An equitable distribution of wealth remains an elusive dream.
According to the National Institute of Statistics' data for the third quarter of 2023, inflation reached 8.3%, and the unemployment rate stood at 15.8%.
Disappointment
The situation in the three governorates is uniform; nothing has changed, and their inhabitants continue to endure hardships as steep as their rugged mountains. Questions persist about the ongoing policy of marginalization in these areas, which have reaped nothing but bullets in the bodies of hundreds of revolution martyrs and wounded.
Neither the promised hospitals, colleges, nor even roads have been completed. The excuse that "the state is on the brink of bankruptcy and the political and economic circumstances do not permit" has deepened fears that projects and allocated budgets will evaporate in these impoverished regions.
Residents of Kasserine, located in the central west, expressed to Al Jazeera Net that their region "paid the price in blood during the revolution that started in Sidi Bouzid." After many years, however, their hopes have been dashed by governments that failed to fulfill their demands, particularly for the right to work and live with dignity and to eliminate corruption.
This governorate, described by Abdel Salam Hamdani as one of the country's lost paradises, is rich in resources and rebellious spirit but also plagued by hunger, deprivation, and poverty. Despite owning nearly two-thirds of the country's artifacts, it barely sees a single tourist.
With weary looks of years of disappointment, Nabil Smaaili points towards "Hay Al Zohour" and "Hay Al Noor," where clashes with the regime's forces occurred during the revolution, indicating, "Governments treat the people of the interior governorates as mere numbers, visiting only during their election campaigns."
Dire Conditions
Not far from the neighboring governorates of Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine, the situation of Gafsa's residents in the south is no better. The city, rich in energy and phosphate resources, is filled with thousands of unemployed youths in cafes, signaling the severe socio-economic conditions plaguing it.
The condition of miners, amid the pervasive dust that assaults the nose and eyes, turning their whites red, is even more challenging and exhausting. The polluted air in the region endangers their lives, and the mines that are the mainstay of their socio-economic life have become a curse.
Hadi Zaaraoui observes the pallid faces devoid of smiles, pointing out that the city, which knows the sweat and blood of mining and resistance, suffers from environmental issues that have led to many diseases. Despite its sacrifices since Gafsa mining basin events in 2005, the city remains neglected by the state, and continues to experience further betrayal and deprivation.
It is worth noting that in 2010, phosphate production reached nearly 8.5 million tons, with export revenues bringing significant profits to the state and feeding its foreign currency reserves.
Betrayed Freedom
Like all the slogans, particularly those related to development, these governorates have seen little change over the past 13 years. The "freedom of expression," once celebrated by Tunisians after the revolution, has also been lost amidst the continued arrests and trials.
Revolution figures from these poor governorates, including Al-Assaad Bouazizi of Sidi Bouzid, known for his rebellious stance against the authority, as well as numerous leaders from the Ennahda movement, businesspeople, and journalists, have been arrested under spurious charges of conspiring against state security, most without evidence.
Political analyst Salaheddine Jourshi believes these arrests represent a deliberate crackdown by the current president to tighten the noose around political parties and weaken opposition forces. He confirms that freedom of expression has significantly retrogressed in Tunisia since the revolution's course was altered.
President Saied implemented exceptional measures on July 25, 2021, dismissing the previous government, dissolving the parliament, revoking the prior constitution, dismantling the Supreme Judicial Council, creating a new constitution that established a presidential system, and organizing legislative elections that resulted in a new parliament. He justified these measures by citing an "imminent danger to the state."
