‘What has democracy done for us?’ The Tunisian people maintain faith with the well-known Saied

Unable to find work, Faouzi Brahmi, a day laborer, plays dominoes with friends in a cafe in the town of Sidi Bouzid, where the 2011 change took place in Tunisia.

The father of four, whose family lives together, says he longs for the days of Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali, a dictator who was ousted from the fray. “Life at that time was cheap,” he says. “We dreamed of a better future after the terrorists, but what came next was even worse than before.”

Sidi Bouzid, the capital of the same name district in central Tunisia’s poorest region, is where Mohamed Bouazizi, a young street vendor, set himself on fire to protest against city officials, sparking outrage that filled the country. and knocked down Ben Ali.

A large statue of Bouazizi still appears in front of the post office on Sidi Bouzid’s main street. But the people of the town, like many Tunisians, are deeply saddened by the last decade of economic instability under weak coalition governments that have failed to eradicate poverty and unemployment – grievances that have sparked unrest.

Until July, when Kais Saied, Tunisia’s president-elect, seized power and closed parliament, the country seemed to be the only successful democracy that emerged from the 2011 riots and riots.

Millions are now waiting for Saied, who has not yet commented on the economic situation. He is still popular, though he has suspended the constitution and announced he will rule by law. His biggest challenge, however, will be to provide the economic relief that is expected of patient people, experts say.

“We want a factory, a job, money and a university in Sidi Bouzid,” said Saied Bakkari, a restaurant owner. “I have three brothers, all of whom graduated from English, but all are unemployed.” Zuhour Freiji, who co-sponsors student demonstrations to force the government to take advantage of them, has been unemployed since 2017 when he dropped out of higher education and a video degree. “I want a government job because there are no companies here in Sidi Bouzid,” he said.

Stuttering for years, Tunisian economy deteriorated sharply thanks to Covid-19, while household items fell by 8.2 percent in 2020 according to the IMF. The plague wreaked havoc on a major tourist attraction and reduced its exports to European counterparts. Thousands of small businesses have closed. The global unemployment rate at the end of September was 18.4 percent according to the Tunisian National Statistics Institute which set youth unemployment at 42.4 percent.

Anouar Jaouadi, an engineer working for the vocational training at Sidi Bouzid, criticized the lack of jobs in the interior, which is one-third of the 12m, due to a lack of government funding for construction. “Development is the key to tackling growing unemployment because it can attract private institutions,” he said. “People are tired and now we are waiting [new force] that would have served the ideals of transformation, which were primarily a function, and then freedom and dignity. ”

But Saied, who has criticized business and politics officials for corruption, has not yet said what his economic plan will look like. At one point he said he would establish a policy in which the “most fraudulent traders” in the country would be forced to invest in the development of the poorest regions. Negotiations have begun with the IMF over a new agreement but this could include issues such as reducing labor costs and calculating workers’ compensation rates – measures that previous governments have found difficult to follow that could damage Saied’s reputation.

Tunisia needs to raise about $ 4bn to stabilize its state economy but due to its risks, interest rates are too high to borrow in the global market, economists say. Increased spending by the government in dealing with the coronavirus crisis has caused government debt to reach about 88 percent of GDP – which the IMF is described as unstable. This adds to the pressure on the state budget which is already struggling with spending to pay about 18 percent of GDP, one of the highest levels in the world.

Olfa Lamloum, chief executive of International Alert in Tunisia, a UK people’s organization, said that after 10 years of change, nothing had changed in the poorest regions. “The prevalence of poverty and unemployment is still high,” he said, adding that there was also an increase in the number of long-term unemployed people, “who graduated 10 years ago and never found a job”.

Tunisia has no “real development agenda” since the change, he said, and the response given was similar to Ben Ali’s time – buying people in poorer neighborhoods with aid or temporary paid contracts for cleaning and gardening services.

Romdhane Ben Amor, a spokesman for Tunisia’s Economic and Social Rights spokesman, said Saied was at risk of further outrage if he failed. “In time, he will want to fulfill his expectations, and the threat to him from his followers is greater than that of his enemies. He has no financial or social views.”

However, in the meantime, many people, such as Radhia Jilali, a teacher at Sidi Bouzid, seem prepared to give the president the benefit of the doubt despite his tenure. “What has democracy done for us?” he said. “Life is still expensive, but I give Saied a chance, as do all Tunisians.”