Tunisia Newsfeed

[ComradeAV]

Stickied as the 'official' Tunisia-thread. Please post breaking news from Tunisia here. - Sentinel

Do you believe that Tunisia can become a socialist country? From what I have heard , there is a communist party there that is deeply involved in the recent struggle ? I have also heard that they are marxist-leninist and pro-hoxha. What do you guys think of the chances?

[Blackscare]

I'm not saying that you can't discuss this topic here, but just as a head's up there's already a metric fuckton of threads regarding Tunisia. Since you're a new member I'd like to mention that there's a search function at the top right of the forum.

Now, I'm not saying it's bad that there are several threads regarding this issue (obviously there are various facets/ways we should be talking about this issue, hence threads in various subfora), but there may be/probably is already a thread regarding Tunisia that covers what you're talking about.

[Bright Banana Beard]

Blackscare, can you merge all those Tunisia thread to ongoing struggle

[Nolan]

Do you believe that Tunisia can become a socialist country? From what I have heard , there is a communist party there that is deeply involved in the recent struggle ? I have also heard that they are marxist-leninist and pro-hoxha. What do you guys think of the chances?

Yup they're a member of ICMLPO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_of_Marxist-Leninist_Parties_and_Organizations_%28Unity_%26_St ruggle%29) (the anti-revisionist one).

[Jack]

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE30/003/2011/en/df4a4e20-e7eb-4aca-a23e-2c1cfc07d918/mde300032011en.html

Several members of the (Marxist-Leninist) Tunisian Communist Workers' Party have been arrested, that's all I know.

[RedScare]

Hoxha, eh? Does that mean if they took power they'd try to construct a state based on the Soviet/Albanian model?

[Jack]

Hoxha, eh? Does that mean if they took power they'd try to construct a state based on the Soviet/Albanian model?

They'd construct a state based on the principles of Marxism-Leninism.

[Lolshevik]

What would those principles be exactly though? Do they recognize the weakness of soviet democracy in Albania as one of the principal causes of the downfall of the workers' state?

[Ismail]

The Tunisian Workers' Communist Party, being an ICMLPO member, probably has the same line on Albania as the PCMLE, PCRCI, etc. They consider Albania to have been the best existing example of a society led by the working class after the 1950's, and broadly agree with Enver Hoxha's views.

Here's a 1997 interview: http://www.mltranslations.org/Tunisia/hammani.htm

[ComradeAV]

Hoxha, eh? Does that mean if they took power they'd try to construct a state based on the Soviet/Albanian model?

Obviously they cannot run the country 100% the same as albania and the SU, since the times are different. But they will run it on the principles of M-l, following the line of marx-engels-lenin-stalin-hoxha.

[Ismail]

WSWS mentioned (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/tuni-j15.shtml) the party in a predictably dismissive tone:

This makes Hamma Hammami, leader of the still-illegal Workers’ Communist Party of Tunisia (PCOT), a potential key player. PCOT is an Albanian Maoist party aligned with the Workers Communist Party of France (PCOF) and an avowed admirer of Stalin’s tyranny and that of Enver Hoxha. He has also called for a government of national unity. Arrested three days ago, Ghannouchi has now released him.

Hammami has been repeatedly arrested and tortured by the regime. His wife, the lawyer Radhia Nasraoui, and their children have been persistently harassed and interrogated. Hammami has been prominent in the coverage of the Western media. The New York Times named the couple as oppositionists. Their participation in any national unity government would be utilised to lend it false credentials as a decisive break with the old regime.

[scarletghoul]

Here's a 1997 interview: http://www.mltranslations.org/Tunisia/hammani.htm
Hamma Hammani was one of those arrested. He has since been released. The fact that theyd arrest a spokesman suggests that the party has some significance, though ive no idea how much

[ComradeAV]

WSWS mentioned (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/tuni-j15.shtml) the party in a predictably dismissive tone:

Well obviously, wsws is a anti-stalin, anti -hoxha website. I think its full pro-trotskyists. However, they do have some good articles.

[Red Rebel]

As Jack mentioned the founder of the Tunisian Workers' Communist Party was detained before the dictator fled. He then released sortly thereafter.

But your question is: was there protests about a poor economic situation and where communists involved? I was under the impression that communists, leftists, radicals, and revolutionaries are defacto the main cause of protests. :D

[Gustav HK]

Why doesn´t Tunisia has its own Ongoing Struggle sub-sub forum?

[Quetzal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKmL7wBqzTk

German - Tunesians thank anonymous for their help in the revolution.

With English subs.

[William Howe]

I agree with Gustav.

[Obs]

Why doesn´t Tunisia has its own Ongoing Struggle sub-sub forum?
If they do make one (I doubt it), it should probably be about the entirety of Maghreb, since the anti-government sentiment is spreading from Tunisia.

[Gustav HK]

They made one about Iran, when there were big protests there.

So they certainly should make one about Tunisia (or the Arab-African region)

[Dimentio]

Do you believe that Tunisia can become a socialist country? From what I have heard , there is a communist party there that is deeply involved in the recent struggle ? I have also heard that they are marxist-leninist and pro-hoxha. What do you guys think of the chances?

Unlikely. About as likely as the Pirate Party gaining power.

The likelihood is even greater for the islamists to take power.

You could perhaps create some kind of socialist/populist country, but Tunisian Marxism-Leninism is doomed to fail because there are no ideologically sympathetic superpowers in the world.

[Gustav HK]

You could perhaps create some kind of socialist/populist country, but Tunisian Marxism-Leninism is doomed to fail because there are no ideologically sympathetic superpowers in the world.

So do you not trust the power and will of the Tunisian proletariat and its allies, since you hold the existance of a sympathetic superpower as essential?

[Dimentio]

So do you not trust the power and will of the Tunisian proletariat and its allies, since you hold the existance of a sympathetic superpower as essential?

Tunisia is the smallest country of North Africa, has 10 million inhabitants, no natural resources and virtually no income-bringing industry apart from tourism. So no, I do not believe that the conditions in Tunisia would be able to bring about a revolution.

Without the existence of the USSR and (later) Mao's PRC, most marxist-leninist take-overs in various countries would have failed or at least been quashed quite quickly. Even in the "Chinese revolution", the key to Mao's victory was Soviet military aid. Had he not received that, he would have been crushed in 1946 and China would today have been "The Republic of China" still.

If it would have been in another, larger country, like Egypt, Iran, Turkey or even Algeria, it would have been possible, though not likely, to build state socialism of the kind you are envisioning. Tunisia is too small and too dependent on foreign trade.

I know you are going to uphold Albania as a counter-example. While I do recognise that Albania was more successful than North Korea, it is only a matter of degrees of failure. The Albanians were literally forced to reuse every single nail and to be subjected to a constant austerity in terms of consumption.

Socialism in one country is possible, given that it is a LARGE country, or at least a country with access to natural resources.

[Sasha]

dutch news broadcasted video footage of the demonstration of today, intrestingly it showed an considerable amount of cops, soldiers and especialy para-militaries joining the protesters demanding an stop of deployement against non-criminals, the fall of all members of the old regime, an free union etc etc. some where even taking clearly revolutionary positions.
i offcousre dont know if this was an isolated small group or representative of an broader unrest under the pilars of reactionarys but it was something i havent seen before in recent political unrests

[revolution inaction]

Do you believe that Tunisia can become a socialist country? From what I have heard , there is a communist party there that is deeply involved in the recent struggle ? I have also heard that they are marxist-leninist and pro-hoxha. What do you guys think of the chances?

a socialist country can't exist. what is interesting though is if this can spread, and there are is some evidence that it is doing, and if the people involved can move beyond parliamentary democracy and form workers councils, there have been claims of stuff like this, but its is all vary unclear, and i would guess that the forces in favour of a different kind of government are stronger than the revolutionary ones.

[Iraultzaile Ezkerreko]

I've heard tell of local council's being formed to coordinate the protests and more effectively organize opposition to the government and in some cases, the state. Don't know about the validity of this, but if it's true it would be an interesting development and would be interesting to know what their politics are like.

[Sentinel]

If it would have been in another, larger country, like Egypt, Iran, Turkey or even Algeria, it would have been possible, though not likely, to build state socialism of the kind you are envisioning. Tunisia is too small and too dependent on foreign trade.The protests have long since spread outside the borders of Tunisia, though. Were they to lead to successful revolutions in several countries, the region could become an important part of the global left-wing movement against neo-colonialism that is already strong in regions like Latin America.

But despite promising signs it's too early to tell whether the revolution will succeed, how widely it will spread, or how advanced it will get ideologically, yet. The secular character of the protests is very encouraging though, socialists have a lot of potential to advance there.

National strikes should be used to engage all layers of the working class in rebellion, in order to strip all powers from the old ruling elite. The power should be transferred to an organ of democratic workers committees/councils of some sort, in which socialists could work to build a new worker's state.

[Red Commissar]

I saw this posted on MarxMail, a "front" that involves the PCOT. It seems to have the hall marks of a popular front- alliance with left and progressive parties, call to dissolve legislative bodies, a call to form a "Constituent Assembly" to draw up a new constitution and state, etc etc


As an affirmation to our involvement in the revolution of our people who are struggling for their right to dignity and freedom, whom their sacrifices resulted in dozens of martyrs and thousands of injured and detainees, and in order to complete the victory against the internal and external enemies, and in response to the ongoing attempts for plundering the people’s sacrifices, 14th January Front is formed as a political frame working on advancing our people’s revolution towards achieving its goals and to confront the anti-revolution forces. It includes the founding forces of political parties and progressive and democratic organizations.

The Front’s urgent tasks are:

*Bringing down Ghannouchi current government or any government that includes symbols of the former regime.

*Dissolving the RCD, the confiscation of its headquarters and property and Bank accounts as they belong to the people, and dismissing its members

*Formation of temporary force that enjoys the confidence of the people and the progressive forces of the civil society political, associations, unions and youth organizations.

*The dissolving of the House of Representatives and the advisers council and all current false bodies, and the Higher Council of the Judiciary, and the dismantling of the political structure of the former regime, and to prepare for elections of a constituent assembly within a period that does not exceed one year, for the formulation of a new democratic constitution and a new legal system that will govern public life ensuring political and economic and cultural rights of people .

*Dissolution of the political security and enact new security policy based at respect for human rights and the law.

*Trial of all those who has been proven to loot the people's money and/or commit crimes such as repression, imprisonment, torture and killings, whether by decision making, ordering or/and execution. Trial also of all of those proven to have taken bribes and misconduct of public property.

*Confiscating the property of the former ruling family and those close to them and their associates and all officials who took advantage of their position to gain wealth at the expense of the people.

*Providing jobs to the unemployed and taking urgent measures for their benefit such as issuing unemployment benefit system and social and medical security and improving the purchasing power of the daily-wage workers.

*Building a national economy which services the people by putting the vital and strategic sectors under state control and nationalising the companies that were privatised and drafting an economic and social policy that breaks-up with liberal capitalist approach.

*Guaranteeing public and individual liberties and primarily the freedom of demonstration and organisation, the freedom of expression and the press and the freedom of belief and the release of all those under arrest and declaring a general amnesty.

The Front salutes the support of the masses and the progressive forces in the Arab world and the world for the revolution in Tunisia and calls upon them to continue their support with whatever means possible.

Opposing normalisation with the Zionist state and criminalising it and supporting all the national liberation movements in the Arab world and worldwide.

The Front calls upon the masses and the progressive and democratic forces to continue their mobilisation and their struggle using all legitimate forms especially street protest until their objectives are achieved.

The Front salutes all the committees, the organisations and the forms of self-organisation of the masses and calls for the broadening of their actions in public life and the running of all aspects of the daily life.

Glory to all the martyrs of the uprising and victory the masses in revolt.

Tunisia 20 January 2011

The League of Left Workers
The Uniting Nacerists Movement
The National Democratic Movement
The National Democrats
The Baath Movement
The Independent Leftists
The Tunisian Communist Workers Party (PCOT)
The National Democratic Labour Party

[Translated by Raida Hatoum and Nadim Mahjoub]

I thought it might be relevant- gives an insight into the activities of the largest Communist party. I think a real possibility at this point is the state possibly looking to co-opt the Islamists in some fashion to counter the influence the Trade Unionists and what not have had in the popular protests.

[Sentinel]

The Egyptian Revolution is dominating the news atm, but let's not forget Tunisia, where it all began and the situation is still far from settled. Stickied, please post news from Tunisia here.

[freepalestine]

Tunisian regime seeks emergency powers against mass protests

>By Alex Lantier




WSWS (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/feb2011/tuni-f08.shtml), February 8, 2011


Yesterday the Tunisian parliament’s lower house voted 177 to 16 to grant emergency powers to Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, the head of the Tunisian regime since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee by mass protests on January 14. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday, at which point it can be ratified by interim president Fouad Mebazza.

Ghannouchi, a top finance official under Ben Ali who helped design privatization policies that benefited Tunisia’s financial elite, applauded the bill. He said, "Tunisia has a real need of rule by decree to remove dangers. There are people who want Tunisia to go backwards, but we must honor our martyrs who fought for liberty."

As lawmakers debated the bill, hundreds of demonstrators massed outside to demand the dissolution of the parliament—which was not dissolved after Ben Ali fled. Bin Ali’s ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), still holds 80 percent of the seats in the parliament.
Ghannouchi’s move to obtain emergency powers came amid continuing popular protests and street fighting between the population and the Tunisian dictatorship’s police forces. After four people were killed and a dozen injured in clashes with police in El Kef on Saturday—as the population demanded the departure of a corrupt police chief—the El Kef police station was torched Sunday. Another demonstrator was killed.


In Kebili, in southern Tunisia, one youth died after he was hit by a teargas canister amid clashes with security forces.
A national march to Sidi Bouzid—the city where the self-immolation of fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi triggered the protests—gathered 7,000 people.

Strikes are also continuing against the regime. On February 4, Le Monde reported strikes in a number of industrial sectors—by mass transit workers, Tunis Air temp workers, and state media employees. However, it wrote, "overall the economic machine has restarted, especially at the Radès port in Tunis, which controls 70 percent of the country’s export-import trade."

Under these conditions, the regime has not yet dared to carry out mass repression against the population. The emergency powers vote, however, clearly signals the type of policy the Tunisian regime plans to eventually pursue. It is not trying to reform itself, but to exploit Ben Ali’s departure to buy time, strengthening its repressive powers to prepare for conditions in which it believes it can move decisively against the working class.


This decision is not only an exposure of the Tunisian dictatorship, but of policies of the United States and other imperialist powers throughout North Africa. They are replying to mass protests in Egypt by claiming that the regime of Hosni Mubarak will make a "democratic transition," transforming the country by eventually arranging for Mubarak to give up his post.

As the Tunisian example shows, however, simply changing who is dictator at the top does not transform the regime. In fact, only overthrowing the dictatorship and replacing it by a state based directly on independent organizations of the working class and pursuing socialist policies can provide a democratic way forward for the masses.

While top government officials and pro-regime papers cynically praise the revolution, the state is trying to disorient and draw down popular opposition.
The regime is handing out blood money to its victims. It will pay €10,300 to the family of someone killed by the state during the protests, and €1,546 to the wounded. As of February 1, the UN had counted 219 killed and 510 wounded.

Above all, the regime is cynically trumpeting various measures carried out to defend its own interests as measures to undermine the RCD. Amid a mass demonstration demanding the resignation of the entire transitional government, a January 28 cabinet reshuffle removed Kamel Morjane, another hated RCD figure close to Ben Ali, as foreign minister. Ahmed Ounais, a high-ranking official and former ambassador trained in France—the former colonial power in Tunisia—took his place.

Morjane said that he was leaving "so that the popular revolution can bear fruit."
The Ghannouchi regime has the support of Tunisia’s trade union bureaucracy in this maneuver. The General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) called off a strike it had announced for that day, announcing that it wanted Ghannouchi to remain in power. It declined to participate in Ghannouchi’s government, however.

The Tunisian establishment press has taken to praising various ministers of the regime as progressive figures. In Le Temps, columnist Khaled Guezmir applauded Interior Minister Farhat Rajhi—a magistrate being promoted as a "left" figure—for moving his office from the old French colonial ministry to newer quarters and evading questions on state wiretapping. Guezmir cynically praised Rajhi, who is apparently appearing frequently on television, as "a minister from whom one expects only the best."

Yesterday it was announced that the RCD would cease to operate. The Tunisian daily, La Presse, explained: "Given the state of extreme emergency and with the objective of preserving the superior interests of the fatherland, the interior minister has decided to suspend yesterday the activities of the RCD, and all meetings or rallies of its members, and to close all facilities belonging to this party or that it manages, in the expectation that a request for its dissolution will be placed with the competent judicial authorities."

Such a "dissolution" is completely worthless, and designed to protect the RCD from the protesters far more than the other way around. It amounts to asking people to believe that leading members of the RCD—like Ghannouchi, as he demands emergency powers—are honestly attempting to dissolve the historic instruments of their own rule.

The reason that the machinery of the Ben Ali regime has continued to function after the departure of its leader, as the press peddles these cynical lies, is not that the regime is popular or that the press’s arguments are convincing. It is mainly because no force in Tunisia had a consciously prepared plan to lead the working class in the overthrow the Ben Ali dictatorship.

This confirms the warnings made by the World Socialist Web Site in its statement "The mass uprising in Tunisia and the perspective of permanent revolution (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/pers-j17.shtml)": "The crucial question of revolutionary program and leadership remains unresolved. Without the development of a revolutionary leadership, another authoritarian regime will inevitably be installed to replace that of Ben Ali."




:: Article nr. 74739 sent on 08-feb-2011 17:30 ECT


www.uruknet.info?p=74739 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=74739)</I>

[freepalestine]

Tunisia calls in army reservists to stem unrest

Angelique Chrisafis in Tunis




Interim government bolsters Tunisian armed forces in attempt to restore order before country's first free elections in June

February 8, 2011

Tunisia (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/tunisia)'s fragile interim government has called in military reservists to contain a fresh wave of violence as it races to organise the country's first free elections.
Three weeks after the people's revolution that ousted the dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben-Ali (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/tunisian-president-flees-country-protests) and inspired the uprising in Egypt, the feeble caretaker government is still struggling to translate the Arab world's first modern popular revolution into a meaningful democratic process and elections in June.


The foreign minister, William Hague, on Tuesday became the highest-ranking western official to visit Tunisia's caretaker prime minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi, and offer aid to build a social and electoral infrastructure in the Maghreb country repressed by Ben Ali's regime for 23 years.
The government has called on retired members of the army, navy and air force to report for duty and warned police they would be fired for skipping work in an attempt to restore order after the regime's former ruling RCD party was accused by the prime minister of deliberately stirring up chaos and violence in provincial towns that has left at least five dead.

Warning against the dangers of the regime's old-guard provoking further unrest, the caretaker government has won the backing of MPs for the interim president to rule by decree.
This will allow him to bypass the sitting parliament, which is 80% dominated by the RCD. The party, the backbone of the old regime, has been suspended and will be dissolved. In a country of 10 million people, the RCD counts 2 million card-carrying members, with much of civil society forced to bow to party officials for the country's scarce jobs.

After a people's revolution with no leader or political figurehead in a country where opposition parties were weakened by the dictatorship, Tunisian intellectuals said elections would be a challenge. The few political opposition parties are hurriedly moving to set up regional bases and begin political meetings.

The once brutally repressed and exiled Islamist party Ennahda (Awakening), which compares itself to Turkey's ruling Islamist democrats, has begun the arduous process of setting up as an official party and rebuilding its grassroots. It is considered an important player but not a dominant force.

The social-democrat, centre-left PDPD party, seen as the strongest opposition movement, supports the interim government as a key step to free and fair elections. The party's secretary general, Maya Jribi, said she had major concerns about the political climate.
"First, the government is being seen as hesitating and vacillating, for example it provoked outrage over its appointment of regional governors linked to the old regime. By dithering and going back on decisions, it sends out a negative message to public opinion that it's not being rigorous enough in rooting out the old regime. The government needs to send a message that it is open to civil society and not just fall back on the closed circle of the old RCD party.

"Second, we're concerned by the vestiges of the old Ben Ali regime, which are resisting and staging their own counter-revolution to stir up violence, particularly in provincial towns.
"And finally, there is a real impatience on the part of the Tunisian people post-revolution. They want everything at once, and that is legitimate and understandable. They haven't had the associations or institutions to organise themselves so they are demonstrating and putting on political pressure in a non-organised way. We're travelling around the regions holding political meetings urging people to form associations and groups and fight the political battle that way."
It is in the offices of a former bank building in the capital, Tunis, that most of the key work on the country's future is being done. Here commissions on violence, politics and corruption are setting up the structures for "a new Tunisia".


Before dawn queues of people are outside carrying paperwork. Many are looking for justice over land stolen from them by the RCD party or houses taken by the ruling family because they had a "good view" or looked nice. Others come to complain of torture injuries by police during the weeks of protests that led to Ben Ali's fall. Crucially, the political commission, led by independent jurists, is consulting to put in place a voting system for the elections.

Taoufik Bouderbala, the independent lawyer leading the violence commission, said he was investigating more than 200 deaths and 500 injuries, as well as rapes and disappearances from the beginning of the protests on 17 December. "People are impatient for justice. History might forget the torturers, but it doesn't forget the victims," he added.

He will publish an independent report and said the interim government was allowing him complete freedom.



:: Article nr. 74750 sent on 08-feb-2011 20:08 ECT


www.uruknet.info?p=74750 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=74750)</I>

[Sentinel]

The protests in Tunisia are intensifying again -- the people are far from satisfied with the situation. An article posted today on the website of the CWI:


Tunisia

New upsurge of revolution

www.socialistworld (http://www.%3Cb%3Esocialistworld%3C/b%3E).net, 25/02/2011
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Protests against government biggest since January 14
http://www.socialistworld.net/img/20110225Grafik6716884234021531682.jpg
CWI Reporter in Tunis

As we post this report from a CWI reporter in Tunis, we have received news from Tunis of “a new wave of the revolution”. On a ‘Day of Anger’, there are now the biggest mass protests in Tunisia since those which ousted the hated president, Ben Ali, on January 14.

Secondary school students are on the streets en masse and the Kasbah area is “black with people”. Determination to “protect the revolution” and bring down Ghannouchi is everywhere! “He may have to go today!”
During the month since the overthrow of Ben Ali, the Tunisian revolution has been almost ‘overshadowed’ by the titanic mass movement of Egyptian workers and youth, and by the heroic uprising of their Libyan neighbours. But the struggle here against what is largely seen as a government of usurpers continues, despite all the efforts being made by the present rulers and their diverse relay teams to impose a different version of the story.


Click 'show spoilers' to read the rest of the article:



The fact that the Tunisian mass movement is being emulated in the whole region is giving new energy to workers and youth to keep up the fight in their own country. Also, an unprecedented wave of solidarity with the neighbouring revolts has appeared on Tunisia’s streets. This is graphically expressed by the hundreds mobilising in different parts of the country in support of the Libyan struggle against the Khadafi regime.
Unthinkable only a few months ago, demonstrations, sit-ins and strikes have become an integral part of the Tunisian social landscape. All these protests are taking place in the context of widespread mistrust and anger against Mohamed Ghannouchi’s provisional government. The weak authority of the ‘official’ state is illustrated by the fact that these continuing protests are taking place in spite of the noisy threats from the Interior Ministry, calling on citizens to “respect the state of emergency”, which supposedly bans gatherings of more than three people in public places!
This situation is getting on the nerves of the Tunisian bosses, who say, through one of their mouthpieces: “We are seeing everything nowadays. Workers who get rid of officials they don’t like, citizens who do not recognise any authority in court decisions and even a government which is not even capable of saying ‘no’ to the streets.”
The old regime is still in place

This amount of freedom has only been imposed by the masses’ revolutionary struggle. Yet political and economic power remains in the hands of the same ruling elite. Fundamentally, this self-proclaimed government, recomposed from the ashes of the dictatorship, is only there to assure the continuity of the capitalist state machine. Far from dismantling the apparatus of the dictatorship, the government is, in practice, relying on its remnants to try and keep a semblance of control over the situation. The examples are numerous.
All members of the present parliament, as well as of the regional councils, have been selected by the former regime, while the constitution, on which Ghannouchi is pretending to base his “legality”, is the constitution of the dictatorship. The political police, by whom a CWI activist has been recently attacked, is still in place and according to some testimonies, many political prisoners are still in jail despite the claims of a supposed ‘amnesty’. On Wednesday, an ‘Organisation of Struggle Against Torture’ was created, highlighting the continuing use of such practices in the present period. Relatives of martyrs of the revolution have also denounced the fact that the presumed assassins of their children are, “not only still in functioning, but have even received promotion”. The censorship and obstructive methods of dealing with information in the mainstream media was publicly pointed out recently by a journalist of the national television, denouncing the pressures, lies, intimidations and marginalisation she has been facing because she wanted to “report sincerely on the deep and most pressing problems of the Tunisian people”.
However, the masses who rose up in their millions only some weeks ago, are scrutinising all the measures of this government with close eyes, and have decided not to accept any stealing of their revolution. The episode of the nomination of the new regional governors, in the beginning of February, was very significant in this regard. The list of the new governors appointed by the government to replace the previous ones was composed of 19 RCD members out of 24! Rapidly, this provocation caused massive outrage and protests all over the country. Some of these governors were not able to start their term of office and had to leave their positions under the protection of the army. Forced to retreat, the government then established a new list of governors in agreement with the UGTT trade union.
New occupation of the Kasbah

Last Sunday, tens of thousands walked along Tunis’ streets in a demonstration ‘for the protection of the revolution’, under shouts of “Gouvernement Ghannouchi, degage (resign)!”, “Enough of lies and masquerades!”, “Get out, all you who want to abort our revolution!”… The demonstration was supposed to be much bigger, but the armed forces prevented buses and cars flooding in from several parts of the country’s interior regions from entering the city.
Braving the attempts by the army to disperse them by firing into the air, the demonstrators were able to reoccupy the Kasbah, where the Prime Minister’s office is. Army units had been guarding it since it had been cleared of the previous occupation at the end of last month. They are demanding the resignation of the transitional government of Ghannouchi, and intend to stay there until this demand is met. They put forward demands such as the democratic election of a Constituent Assembly, the effective dissolution of the RCD and the dissolution of both parliamentary chambers.
In the revolutionary process, the mass of workers, young people and poor are learning very quickly. Past illusions in the ‘benevolent’ and protective role of the army have been replaced by a much more defiant attitude. “Where is Rachid Ammar and his promises of protecting the revolution?” young demonstrators were shouting. This refers to General Ammar whose relative popularity had been used by the regime to get him to try and evacuate the occupiers during the first sit-down protest at the Kasbah.
Imperialist masters

The end of French interference in the country is also part of the demands and slogans of demonstrators. On Saturday, a 500-strong demonstration took place in front of the French embassy, with the aim of getting rid of the new French ambassador, Boris Boillon. He started his mandate by insulting journalists who dared to ask him questions related to the attitude of Sarkozy’s government towards Ben Ali’s regime. The response of the masses was rapid: “Boillon, degage! (Get out, Boillon!)”.
The recent days have seen a ceaseless round of visits from French officials and politicians in Tunisia. But the masses have not forgotten the past attitude of all these hypocritical Philistines, who, after having displayed support for Ben Ali’s rotten system for years, are trying now to strengthen French imperialism’s position in the ‘new Tunisia’.
A new sort of struggle is now appearing on Tunisian soil - between rival imperialist powers, mainly France and the United States, attempting to reinforce their control over the Tunisian economy. Both countries have already announced the visits of delegations of businessmen from their respective countries to benefit from the new ‘opportunities’ of exploiting the Tunisian market (the Ben Ali-Trabelsi mafia ruled over 40% of the Tunisian economy…). In order to attract those foreign investors, Ghannouchi’s government is engaged in a campaign to desperately try and stop the strikes that have erupted in many sectors and to restore capitalist order in the workplaces and in the factories.
Trade Unions

For this dirty job, the government can rely on the disgraceful role played by the UGTT bureaucrats. Since the revolution, the UGTT bureaucracy, the executive committee in particular, has not stopped presenting itself as the ultimate warder of the rotten regime (forced, though, into some notable sharp reversals because of its militant base). On the 8th of February, the executive committee of the trade union concluded an agreement with the government “to work to restore security, dealing with anti-revolutionary forces who are trying to destabilise people, hampering the normal functioning of the institutions, and negatively influencing the social climate”.
For people who did not understand properly what that meant, Abdessalem Jerad, General Secretary of the UGTT, made it clear one week later in an interview. He accused the RCD of being behind the strikes and social unrest, calling the federations of the different sectors to stop the strikes and demands because of this, and declaring that disciplinary sanctions would be adopted against trade unionists who do not follow those instructions.
This anti-strike campaign is beating its drums in all the official media. Workers who are fighting for their rights and social aspirations - who refuse to “produce first and demand afterwards” - are increasingly being targeted as enemies and traitors of the “noble causes of the revolution”. Whatever the poverty wages, precarious work, endless temporary contracts, high cost of living, mass unemployment, ‘economic freedom’ must not be put in jeopardy (the freedom for a handful of capitalists to exploit a cheap and docile workforce). It is quite ironic that it is precisely the people who have allowed and assisted the mafia to loot the economy for years who are now accusing the strikers of “leading the economy into collapse”.
“I do not have a magic wand”, says Ghannouchi, trying to play down the potential of the social volcano on which he is sitting. And this is at a time when all newspapers and media outlets are reporting daily on the huge fortunes, assets and companies of the former ruling families. Tunisian workers and poor have not seen one dinar of all this. One glaring example of what is happening:- On 24 February, the French multinational Vivendi announced its intention to explore the possibility of buying 25% of the shares of the telecom company ‘Tunisiana’ that belongs to “Zitouna Holdings”, whose owner is Sakher El Materi, Ben Ali’s son-in-law. This is what it is all about: the visits of French and American officials are taking place in a race against time to get their hands on the mafia’s fortunes, like vultures on a dead body.
An elementary measure to secure the public interest would be to restore immediately all this wealth to the Tunisian people, by putting all the companies and assets of the mafia under public ownership. No to imperialist thieves and predators taking over! Let the Tunisian people decide their own future! Immediate restitution of all the mafia’s wealth into the hands of the poor, the workers, peasants and young people, to let them benefit from it!
‘Council for the Protection of the Revolution’

A group of twenty eight different opposition political parties and organisations has signed a common statement calling for the establishment of a ‘National Council for the Protection of the Revolution’. It includes the Islamic party Ennahda, the UGTT and the ‘January 14th Front’ - a common platform of about ten left and nationalist organisations.
The provisional government is claiming that such a body has no legitimacy. This is blatant hypocrisy from a government which is itself completely illegitimate! However, as with every good lie, there is an element of truth in it. Instead of seeing such a ‘Council for the Protection of the Revolution’ as something which is democratically built and organised from below, through a network of revolutionary and workers’ committees that could ultimately replace the present government, this is more of a self-proclaimed institution.
De facto it would include non-elected people from all these political parties. Moreover, and more importantly, they consider this council not as an alternative to the present counter-revolutionary government, but as a sort of complement to it that would ‘control’ its activities! This is what Khalil Zaouia, from the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties (FDTL) has said: “It will give the new government its legitimacy”! The representatives of this initiative are even planning to request the interim president, Foued Mebazaa, to issue a decree to endorse its establishment.
From the point of view of the ‘January 14th Front’, which had put on its banner the organisation of the resistance against Ghannouchi’s government, this is a profound step backwards. In practice, this means an acceptance of the present government’s existence, and gives dangerous illusions that the counter-revolution can be ‘tamed’ so easily from the top by a bunch of wise politicians.
For a genuinely elected constituent assembly. For a revolutionary government of workers, peasants and poor
The CWI supports the demand for the election of a Revolutionary Constituent Assembly, that can draft a new constitution and decide the country’s future. But for these elections to be truly democratic, no trust should be put in any of the old regime’s figures to organise them. They must be under the democratic supervision of local revolutionary committees of workers, poor and young people.
The idea of a government standing clearly for the interests of the poor and working people is instinctively present in the movement, some raising the idea of “people power”. But such a power cannot simply be declared. It must be built from below.
Towards this end, the local popular and revolutionary committees need to be spread and reinforced everywhere. These committees need to be coordinated at every level, and to establish strong links between themselves to avoid isolation or dissolution by the repressive apparatus, which is what the ‘official’ state will inevitably try to do at a later stage in order to restore its authority.
Above all, similar committees need to be organised in a systematic way - in the companies, the administrations and factories, to provide the working class all its weight and strength in the situation. Flying pickets of striking workers could also be organised to assist and protect the sit-down protest of the youth at the Kasbah in Tunis. Similar initiatives are vital, especially since the regime is trying everything to break the unity between the unemployed youth and workers who go on strike. Yet, in many companies, the reduction of working hours is part of the workers’ demands - an important and essential measure to provide jobs for the unemployed.
The official newspaper of the regime, ‘La Presse’, was asking recently: “Can we reasonably ask bosses to leave their companies? If they do, who is going to provide jobs and wages?” Actually, many bosses are now warning of possible job losses, or of relocation elsewhere. Those companies should be taken over and put under the democratic control and management of workers’ committees.
Other companies have been forced to concede wage increases because of strike action. But, as always, and especially in the present period of intense competition and world economic crisis, the capitalists will try to take back from the workers with the right hand what they have been forced to give with its left, and even more. There is no future whatsoever for the majority of people under a capitalist system. This is the real obstacle. It will have to be overthrown and replaced by a rational, democratically-planned economy.
The revolutionary potential of the masses is undoubtedly still alive. However, the absence of a genuine revolutionary party, with a clear policy, independent from the regime and from its capitalist supporters, and arguing for the socialist case in a coherent and consistent manner, makes all the tasks ahead much more complicated.
The left and trade union activists need to discuss the need to link up individual strikes, occupations and walk-outs into nationwide general strike action with demonstrations in every city, town and village. It was the strike action in Sfax and Gafsa and also in Tunis from 12 to 14 January that was decisive in getting Ben Ali to flee the country.
Generalised strike action would be a means to unite the revolutionary masses in a powerful response against the government, the bosses, and their propaganda. The building of strong elected organising committees in the workplaces is vital and also amongst the youth and poor in the neighbourhoods and countryside. Linking them up on a regional and national level would create the instruments for creating a government of the workers and poor.
Particularly crucial in any upsurge of the revolution are elected committees in the armed forces and the police. Large swathes of the army and police can and must be convinced to be on the side of the workers and youth, but they must have control in their hands through elected committees. They should be able to refuse orders to attack demonstrations and strikes and insist on the right to remove reactionary officers. They would also need to link up with the committees of the workers and youth.
None of the problems posed by the revolution has been fundamentally solved yet; a mass mobilisation of the entire working class and the poor, to take political and economic power out of the hands of the capitalist regime and its state machine, will be necessary.
Down with Gannouchi and all ministers of the RCD, whatever name they use today!
A united struggle of workers, youth, poor and soldiers to remove them!
For a government of the people making the revolution – of the youth and their committees, the UGTT and its fighters and genuine anti-capitalist left groups!
Workers, youth and poor, complete the revolution with your own independent forces!

[Tommy4ever]

Three killed in Tunisian anti-government protests

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51440000/jpg/_51440015_011381823-1.jpg

Three people have been killed in clashes between hundreds of demonstrators and security forces in the Tunisian capital, authorities say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12588004

Seems the second stage of revolution in Tunisia is well under way.

[Palestine]

Tunisia's prime minister has just resigned maybe this is a good thing! Although the man is not that bad, he has no corruption past, although he is a yes man.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Yeah, I saw that story too.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-tunisia-resign-20110228,0,4116113.story

[Crux]

Tunisia

Ghannouchi steps down

www.socialistworld.net, 28/02/2011
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Revolution and counter-revolution on the streets
From CWI reporters, Monday 27
http://www.socialistworld.net/img/20110228Grafik865454366484815875.jpg
Prime Minister Ghannouchi announced his resignation on Sunday 27 February after three days of mass protests in Tunis and fierce repression by the police. Tear gas had filled the air, live ammunition was fired, and another five people were killed.
Demonstrations and protests took place in many parts of the country but large numbers of people had decided to travel to Tunis to join and support the sit-down occupation in the Kasbah square and to take part in the huge demonstration in Tunis on Friday – a ’Day of Anger’. 100,000 protested on Tunis’ streets - the biggest demonstrations since the departure of the dictator, Ben Ali on January 14. (See latest article on this site.) (http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4879)



Protesters entered the military zone and started to storm the Interior Ministry - important symbol of the dictatorship. Police unleashed heavy repression, shooting dead an 18-year-old on that night. This fuelled Saturday’s anger. That was the main reason why thousands of people, mainly youth, took to the streets on the following day. The police repression, however, shocked many people. They saw a reminder of the brutal methods of the old regime. In among a crowd fleeing from live ammunition rounds, a plain clothes police officer drew his revolver pointing it at people before running down an alley. This is just one incident witnessed by CWI activists on the ground.



State media and the Interior Ministry are putting the blame for this weekend’s violence on the protesters themselves. They are portraying them as hooligans and looters, in an attempt to isolate them and to gain points of support among small shopkeepers, and other middle class layers, under the cover of a "return to law and order". It is true that some shop windows were smashed, and material damaged. But the ultimate responsibility lies with the extreme police provocation of peaceful protests and the undoubted use of provocateurs, against whom unarmed protesters tried to defend themselves with makeshift barricades and weapons.
Last weekend’s violence must serve as a warning to the revolutionary movement. Mass actions and demonstrations need to be properly defended. The organised workers’ movement can play a key role in organising mass self-defence, armed if necessary. This would not only protect the protesters but also prevent some of the most desperate sections from going down the blind alley of riots and individual acts of violence. This could also ensure the support of the middle classes for the revolution. Clear calls need to be made to rank-and-file soldiers in order to win them over actively to the revolution’s side, and assist in neutralising the forces of reaction.


The new prime minister, Béji Caïd Essebsi, is an old politician who held key ministerial positions under Bourguiba’s rule, although he is less "obviously" associated with Ben Ali’s inner circle. By making this change, the regime hopes to cut across and divide the movement. However, the initial response in the Kasbah is to continue the struggle. As long as many figures of the old regime are still in power, working people and poor still face a future of poverty, lack of jobs, decent education.
It is therefore essential that the demand for economic and social change becomes an integral part of this struggle and is taken up by the trade union and workers’ movement.



The Executive Committee of the UGTT has now called for the immediate resignation of the present government and the setting up of a government of "technocrats" until elections are eventually held. But this is nowhere near enough. After all, the UGTT leaders supported the setting up of the present government with Ghannouchi at its head!



Working class people and the youth are saying little has changed. A total clear out is necessary and fair and free elections. They want a government that genuinely represents their interests. No trust in the existing gang.



The revolution must be pushed on towards the establishment of a government of workers, young people, poor farmers and small traders elected from committees in the workplaces and neighbourhoods and also amongst the rank and file soldiers. Such a government would complete the process of pushing out the old owners of industry and commerce and establishing control of the commanding heights of the economy and genuinely democratic planning. In this way peoples lives can be radically changed.



Further reports and analysis to follow.

[Mather]

After the resignation of Mohammed Ghannouchi, three more ministers have quit the government. Two of whom were RCD (party of the Ben Ali regime) party members and the other being the leader of the opposition secular social democratic Democratic Progressive Party, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201131134458332348.html

It is good to see the Tunisian (and Egyptian) people still keeping up the protests, strikes, holding of political meetings and their demands even though their respective dictators have fallen. They have not been fooled by any cosmetic change at the top and still struggle.

[Sasha]

intresting indepth article about the situation in tunisia:


Political ambiguity breeds violence
As politicians fight over what shape the new Tunisia might take, suspicious acts of violence wreak havoc.



http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/03/20113112132797563.html

[Os Cangaceiros]

some interesting photos (http://english.aljazeera.net/photo_galleries/middleeast/201132113193061217.html) of Libyan refugee camps in Tunisia.

[Os Cangaceiros]

800 inmates escape from Tunisian prison (http://www.businessinsider.com/800-tunisian-inmates-escape-during-prison-fire-2011-4)