Many people in Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of Tunisia’s 2011 revolution that launched the Arab Spring, see President Kais Saied’s power grab as a necessary evil.
But there are also fears that last month’s dismissal of parliament, sacking of the prime minister and Saied’s assumption of sweeping powers may bring Tunisia one step closer to another dictatorship.
It was in this large town of central Tunisia on December 17, 2010 that Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit and vegetable salesman angered by police harassment, set himself ablaze.
His suicide sparked an unprecedented uprising that left some 300 people dead and toppled long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
But more than a decade later, hopes for a better future have given way to anger and disappointment over the North African country’s politicians’ failure to improve living standards.
The chants of “Dignity!” and “Work!” that filled the air during the revolution have again sounded at recent demonstrations.
Reports have it that these last 11 years have been worse than 23 years under Ben Ali! Parliament and the government smothered the poeple in poverty.
