Tunisia: one month from the overthrow of Ben Ali

20th January, outside the Prime Minister’s office. Photo: Nasser NouriFor
nearly two weeks after January 14th the country saw a series of regional
general strikes and mass demonstrations against the new Government of
National Unity (GNU) of Gannouchi. All the key ministers (Defence,
Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister, President, Finances, Home Affairs, etc)
of the GNU had been ministers under Ben Ali, many occupying the same
positions.

The pressure from below forced the national leadership of the UGTT to
withdraw from this government, and its local structures played a key
role in mobilising against it. The revolutionary youth from the regions
marched on the capital Tunis on January 23rd, with the aim of speeding up
the overthrow of the government of Gannouchi. Once in the capital there
was a march on the Prime Minister’s office in the Kasbah where they set
up camp, effectively preventing the GNU from working from its offices.

The wave of regional strikes reached its peak with the historic
strike of Sfax, on January 26th, when 100,000 marched through the streets
of this industrial city, and also the unprecedented march of 20,000 in
Sidi Bouzid on January 27th. On the same day a long awaited ministerial
reshuffle was announced, which removed from the GNU most of the
ministers who had been members of Ben Ali’s RCD, but left untouched the
Prime Minister Gannouchi and the President, both part of the Ben Ali
regime.

However, this “new” government had to be ratified by the
Administrative Council of the UGTT trade union, or it would have not
lasted even 24 hours. Even though a majority of members voted in favour,
federations and regional unions which represent a majority of the UGTT
membership voted against and refused to recognise the government. These
were the Union of Secondary School Educators, the Postal Workers
Federation, the Public Heath Care Workers Union, the Union of Youth and
Infant Care Workers, the Regional Federation of Sfax, the Regional
Federation of Bizerte and the Regional Federation of Jendouba.

However, since no clear lead was given by anyone, the formal
acceptance on the part of the UGTT leadership of the Gannouchi
government gave a certain room for manoeuvre, a degree of legitimacy
which it did not posses before. It quickly used it, on January 28th, by
unleashing brutal repression against the youth camped at the Kasbah
esplanade, who were dispersed and sent back to their regions of origin.

Revolution is a war between the classes and like in a war between
nations, leadership is crucial. Once the momentum is lost, it is
difficult to regain it again. For two weeks, between January 14th and
January 27th, the GNU was suspended in mid-air. The revolutionary workers
and youth could have taken power. This was graphically demonstrated on
January 22nd and 23rd when the people marched on the Prime Minister’s office
and all that the officer in charge of the Army guarding the building
could do was to ask them politely not to enter the premises. Police
officers were demonstrating all over the country demanding their right
to form a union. There would have been no force capable of stopping the
revolutionary masses from taking power.

At that moment in time, in the context of regional general strikes
and mass demonstrations, a new alternative Revolutionary Council, based
on the local and regional councils and the local and regional structures
of the trade unions, could have taken power, but there was no-one to
actually carry it out.

It is true that the January 14 Front, a coalition dominate by the
formerly banned Tunisian Party of Communist Workers (PCOT), was firm in
its opposition against the GNU and called for the committees to be
strengthened at all levels. In a communiqué on January 28, after the
government reshuffle and the vote at the UGTT Administrative Council, it
even called for a National Conference for the Defence of the Revolution
to elect a provisional government. But it never went as far as actually
convening such a national congress of the committees, something
that could have been done taking advantage of the presence in Tunis of
the revolutionary youth from the provinces. This would have been
possible before January 27th, but more difficult after the GNU had gained legitimacy from the UGTT.

Even though many opportunities were missed, this is not to say that
the revolutionary initiative of the masses has ebbed completely and that
the Gannouchi government is in control of the situation. On the
contrary, the overthrow of Ben Ali has unleashed all the pent up
frustrations of all sections of society. The revolution has changed
their outlook: “we are not afraid anymore” and groups of workers and
youth all over the country are taking direct action, with no respect for
any established authority (which are after all just a leftover of the
old regime). There was even talk of the Imams of the mosques wanting to
set up a trade union!

In state owned companies, ministries and departments, workers have
organised in committees or through the union and kicked out the old
managers and in some cases have refused to accept the new ones appointed
by the government which has been forced to change them again. The civil
servants at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs went on strike and
organised sit-ins until they got the removal of the Minister Ahmed
Ounaies, on February 13th. It is clearly not a normal situation for the
ruling class when the government appoints a minister and the workers at
the ministry kick him out!

In many official media outlets, newspapers, TV and radio, the workers
have organised and forced the removal of the managers and in varying
degrees taken control over the editorial line. In one case, they even
rejected the newly appointed manager as they had not been consulted.

5th February, rally for trade union democracy, Tunis. Source: intal.beOn
February 3rd, the government decided to appoint new regional governors.
This was another important step towards bourgeois normalisation. The
overthrow of Ben Ali had meant the complete collapse of state power in
many towns and even some regions. Revolutionary committees and councils
had taken over the running of public affairs. From the point of view of
the ruling elite it was important to reassert the power of the
capitalist state over them.

Revealing its true colours, 19 out of the 24 “new” governors were
connected with the RCD and the old regime. This was too much of a
provocation and it provoked a new wave of demonstrations and strikes in
the regions, in some cases leading to the expulsion of the “new”
governors (as in Gabès, Kébili, Zaghouan, Nabeul and Béja), often
protected by the Army. In Redeyef (in the Gafsa mining basin) a general
strike for a combination of political and economic demands paralysed the
town (video).
In Kasserine, El Kef and Kebili the clashes with the police and in some
cases the army led to several demonstrators being killed ‑ the first
victims killed by the Gannouchi government. In Zaghouan the
revolutionary people expelled the local council (video). In all of these towns it is the committees for de defence of the revolution that have effective control over public order.

Once again, the government has been forced to withdraw its decision
and on February 8th announced that a new set of governors would be
appointed “in consultation with the UGTT”! This is unprecedented and it
shows the real balance of forces, even today. The official government
appoints governors, which are then rejected and expelled by the people,
and the government has to go and negotiate with the trade unions the
appointment of new acceptable governors. Who rules the country? The
government of Gannouchi or the revolutionary people? There are clearly
elements of dual power still present in the situation in Tunisia.

The government was also forced to decree the dissolution of the RCD
on February 7th, another of the demands of the people, in a further
attempt to appease the masses. At the same time, in order to deal with
the question of its own legitimacy, Gannouchi had to ask from Parliament
powers to rule by decree. This is yet another provocation, as it means
that the Parliament which gives Gannouchi his powers is Ben Ali’s
parliament, composed overwhelmingly by RCD deputies (the party which has
just been disbanded!).

Clearly, while the government of Gannouchi has taken some steps
towards asserting its power, the situation is still very much in flux.
All the economic and social grievances that gave rise to the
revolutionary movement are still present, and they cannot really be
solved under capitalism. A foreign diplomat warned that “the people have
shown great maturity, but they could descend on the streets again”.

An article in AFP aptly summarises the situation of revolutionary
ferment which is still present in Tunisia: “From north to south, the
country has become for the last two weeks a permanent demonstration:
sudden strikes, wildcat stoppages, daily demonstrations by employees and
the unemployed who yell demands silenced for more than a quarter of a
century. Every day the national TV brings from the provinces images of
the angry cries of misery and distress.”

The government can only rule by relying on the UGTT leadership. It
has just announced “national negotiations on a wide range of social
issues”. UGTT leader Abid Briki warned that these negotiations were in
the interest of the government because otherwise it risked “a social
explosion”. What the government really needs is for the UGTT to police
the growing wave of strikes. The UGTT leaders, headed by Abdesselem
Jerad (who was a loyal supporter of Ben Ali until the very last minute)
would be quite happy to fulfil that role, if they could. Jerad was on
national TV asking his members to be patient, to “delay” their demands
and above all, to “coordinate all their actions with the national
leadership”. As a matter of fact, the UGTT national leaders do not lead
this movement, they never have. Briki admits that they do not
“coordinate or organise all of these strikes … the UGTT has been
overtaken by these social movements”.

The leadership of the UGTT itself is contested, with regular
demonstrations outside its central headquarters in Tunis demanding the
democratisation of the union and the removal of Jerad and his
accomplices because of his collaboration with Ben Ali. In one of these
demonstrations Jilali Hammami, general secretary of the postal workers
explains: “all those involved in class collaboration with the old
regime, who have sold out the blood of the martyrs, must go. We demand a
genuine trade union democracy and a militant trade union at the service
of the working class. We will not allow counter-revolutionary forces to
steal the revolution.”

A commentator in a business newspaper compared the situation to the
French Popular Front and the wave of strikes of 1936 in France. “Who is
at the helm?” he asked. His conclusion was that Tunisia needed her own
Maurice Thorez, the French Stalinist leader of the PCF who “had the
courage to bring the strikes to a halt”. The problem for the ruling
class is that the Tunisian Thorez’s of the former communist party
Ettajdid have been widely discredited for their collaboration with Ben
Ali. They are actually part of the Gannouchi government and were from
the very beginning. The Thorez’s are only useful to the ruling class if
they are actually able to keep the working masses under control. This is
clearly not the case in Tunisia.

One month after the revolutionary overthrow of Ben Ali, the Tunisian
revolution has only started. The only thing missing is a revolutionary
leadership with a clear understanding of the tasks ahead. The workers
and youth have shown enormous courage and given nearly 300 of its finest
representatives to the cause of radical social and political
transformation of the county. All these sacrifice must not be in vain.
The process will have its ebbs and flows, but the fundamental
contradictions which brought about this revolution cannot be solved
within the limits of capitalism. The most advanced elements need to
understand that and stand firmly on a programme of workers’ power and
international socialism, the only way to complete the Tunisian
revolution which has started.

The words of the mother of one of the martyrs in Kasserine sums it
up: ‎"We’re watching events, but if nothing real changes in people’s
lives here – no equality, no opportunities, no chance to work, the
stranglehold of the RCD party – we’ll stage a new revolution."