At Arab Spring Anniversary, Is Tunisia Really a Success Story?

This Sunday marks seven years since a wave of protests erupted across the Middle East and North Africa in what came to be known as the Arab Spring. Tunisia, the country where the uprisings began, has been saluted as the revolution’s success story for managing a relatively peaceful transition from an authoritarian regime to a functioning democracy. But is it really such a success? Tunisia’s democratic makeover remains a work in progress. The country faces difficult hurdles that, if not addressed, could threaten its future.

• Demonstrators in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid, located about 200 miles south of the capital Tunis, took to the streets on Dec. 17, 2010, after Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor, set himself on fire in response to police humiliatingly confiscating his produce. The event sparked mass protests across the country and ultimately led to the January 2011 toppling of the Tunisian regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
• The Islamist Ennahda Party, meaning the “Resistance Party,” emerged victorious in the country’s October 2011 parliamentary elections and subsequently formed a governing coalition. However, new protests broke out in July 2013, demanding the government resign after Islamists were accused of assassinating leading opposition candidate Mohammed Brahmi.
• By December 2013, the Ennahda-led government agreed to step down and appoint a new prime minister. In January 2014, the Tunisian parliament passed the country’s current constitution, which recognizes equality between men and women and guarantees the freedom of worship, but also maintains Islam as the state religion.
• The Nida Tounes party, which includes secularists, trade unionists and liberals, won a majority of seats in the country’s most recent parliamentary elections held in October 2014 and assumed control of the government. Current Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, a member of Nida Tounes, defeated outgoing President Moncef Marzouki in run-off elections held in December 2014.