As soon as Ben Alí was on the plane to
Saudi Arabia on Friday, January 14th, ousted by the mass revolutionary
movement of the Tunisian workers and youth, the Tunisian ruling class
and its imperialist puppet masters started manoeuvring to make sure that
they remained in control of the situation.
14th January. Photo: Nawaat.orgThey
were intent on not allowing power to slip from the corridors of
parliament and the presidential palace to the streets where the masses
were celebrating the flight of the hated dictator. It was crucial for
them above all to ensure the maintenance of “constitutional order”.
Articles 56 and 57 of the Constitution were invoked and different
figures were put in charge with lightning speed, trying to form a new
government as soon as possible. First it was Ben Ali’s Prime Minister
Mohamed Ghannouchi, quickly replaced by the speaker of the parliament,
Fouad Mebazaa, who then, in turn, proceeded to ask Ghannouchi to have
talks with all political forces in order to form a national unity
government charged with calling elections.
Talks were frantic during the whole weekend. From the point of view
of the ruling class this government had to fulfil two aims: 1) to ensure
the continuity of the old regime, 2) to do it by pretending that it was
“new” in order to gain some legitimacy on the streets where the
Tunisian people had carried out the revolutionary overthrow of Ben Alí.
For this purpose a number of figures from the “loyal opposition” were
included as a fig leaf.
Meanwhile, the remains of Ben Ali’s hated police force and secret
services were roaming the streets in unmarked cars, shooting at
civilians, organising looting and generally attempting to create a mood
of chaos, violence and fear from which they hoped to benefit. An amazing
120,000 people were employed by the police in a country of just over 10
million inhabitants, controlling all aspects of everyday life and
spying on the population on a massive scale. Many of those are still
loyal to the dictator, armed and fighting for their own survival.
Starting on Friday night, the Tunisian people started to organise to
fight back against them. In neighbourhoods around the country groups of
men, women and children armed themselves with sticks, stones, knives and
whatever else they could get their hands on and set up barricades and
roadblocks to protect themselves, revealing a sharp revolutionary
instinct.
One eyewitness described the situation: “Every single corner had a
collection of men, young boys and even a few women brandishing all sorts
of weapons (except guns). They had built barricades out of random trash
to block traffic and were standing around them.” These peoples’
committees fought, and on many occasions defeated, the ministry of
interior forces who were terrorising the population: “These terrorists
were armed with automatic weapons and driving around in cars, and we
were all on foot armed only with axe handles, knives and badly
constructed barricades,” the same eyewitness explained.
Some of these committees also started to undertake tasks of ensuring
the provisioning of food as well as maintaining public order. Elements
of dual power started to emerge. In Bizerte, one of the epicentres of
the revolution, the army went to the neighbourhood committees and told
them that they were taking over, but the committees said they were
staying and the army had no other alternative but to accept. The same
was true throughout the country, as army soldiers collaborated with the
committees to maintain order and fight the police and ministry of
interior forces.
Last week during the revolutionary events that led to the ousting of
Ben Ali, there were already many reports of fraternisation between
soldiers and lower ranking officers and the workers and youth on the
streets. As a matter of fact, Ben Ali was forced to withdraw the Army
from the streets of the capital and replace them with the police for
fear of the soldiers joining with the people.
During every real revolutionary movement cracks appear within the
state apparatus, and particularly the army which is a conscript army
drawn from the people. Some generals at the top of the Tunisian Army
probably realised that they could not use the soldiers against the
people and therefore understood that Ben Ali was finished and decided to
switch their allegiance. General Rachid Ammar is reported as having
refused an order for the soldiers to fire on the demonstrators and was
removed from his command by Ben Alí. This has added to the popularity of
the Army amongst the population.
Road block. Photo: methalif.blogspot.comIt
is not unprecedented for Army officers to play a role in revolutions,
particularly in the absence of a revolutionary party with strong roots
amongst the working class. This was the case during the Portuguese
revolution in 1974. For a brief period of time general Spinola took over
control of the situation, pretending to be a friend of the revolution,
only to be removed as the revolution moved further to the left. The same
Spinola was to attempt a coup against the very same revolution he had
pretended to be a part of.1
The workers and youth of Tunisia should be very wary of any such
false friends of the revolution. These false friends are behaving as
they are only because the balance of forces has swung massively in
favour of the ordinary working people. They will lean towards the masses
in order to win their confidence, only to betray them later.
In Tunisia as in any capitalist country, the army as an institution
is a capitalist body, created in order to defend the interests of the
ruling class, however much it attempts to present itself as defending
the people and the nation. Workers and youth should have no trust in
Army generals. However, the lower ranks are much closer to the masses in
social composition and background. With these layers – ordinary
soldiers and lower ranking officers – the masses should build and
strengthen their links. Soldiers and revolutionary officers should form
their own committees and these should be linked to the committees in the
workplaces and the neighbourhoods. They should denounce those officers
involved in corruption and repression under Ben Ali and remove them from
the institution.
As news of the new “national unity” government started to emerge,
workers and youth were back on the streets. In Bizerte, Sfax and other
places there were demonstrations on Saturday, some of them marching on
the headquarters of the hated RCD ruling party and setting them on fire.
In Bizerte the people defeated the Ben Alí militias and set their
motorbikes on fire. There was a growing feeling that the revolution was
being stolen from them.
Even before the actual composition of the new government had been
announced demonstrations were being called for in the capital and most
regional capitals for Monday. In Tunis a militant crowd of thousands
gathered outside the offices of the UGTT trade union and then marched
towards the Ministry of the Interior (Video). Similar demonstrations took place in Sfax (Video 1 and Video 2, Video 3), Kasserine, Monastir (Video), Bizerte (Video 1 and Video 2),
Jendouba, etc. In many cases these demonstrations were organised by and
rallied from the regional headquarters of the UGTT union. "The
revolution continues, down with the RCD” was the common slogan. “They
cannot steal the revolution from us,” said Abdel Haq Kharshouni, one of
the protesters quoted by the Financial Times, “we do not want to
be ruled by tyrants anymore.” In the capital, the demonstrators were met
with riot police with water cannons and dispersed. (Video).
Finally, late on Monday 18, the composition of the new government was
announced. Ministers from the old Ben Ali government kept all key
positions including the Prime Minister and the ministries of Defence,
Interior, Economy and Foreign Affairs. A few figures from the legal
opposition were given token ministries: Moustapha Ben Jaafar, from the
socialdemocratic “Forum démocratique pour le travail et la liberté”
(FDTL) getting the Health Ministry, Ahmed Ibrahim, from the former
Communist Party Ettajdid was given Higher Education, and the head of the liberal PDP Najib Chebbi was appointed as Minister for Regional Development.
As usual the former Stalinists and reformist leaders play the worst
role of all. These are all parties which were legal under Ben Ali; some
had representation in parliament and played no role during the
insurrection. Significantly, when Ghannouchi announced the new
government, he was flanked by Abdallah Kallel, former Minister of the
Interior, well known for implementing brutal repression and directly
responsible for the torture of thousands of political opponents. A
number of figures from “civil society” were thrown in for good measure
to try to increase the authority of the new government amongst the
masses, including a blogger who had been arrested, a barrister, human
rights figures, a cinema director, etc. Three representatives from the
UGTT trade union were also included in the new government, in
recognition of the need for the ruling class to get some support amongst
the workers.
The Communist Workers Party (PCOT), illegal up until now, has
correctly denounced this government as a manoeuvre to maintain the Ben
Ali regime without Ben Ali. The PCOT has also called for the spreading
of the committees and for the convening of a Constituent Assembly.
The only other party not to have been invited to this “new”
government is the Islamist En Nahda, also illegal under Ben Ali.
However, its leaders have declared they would be ready to join such a
government. At the same time, it has been reported that one of the
leaders of En Nahda, just released from prison, was present at the
anti-government demonstration in Tunis this morning. The Islamists, who
play no role in the actual revolution, are now attempting to win support
by presenting themselves as more consistent democrats. These are not
friends of the revolution, but just cynically trying to take advantage
of it to promote their own reactionary views.
This new government does not have the support of the revolutionary
masses. They quite rightly see that they made the revolution and now a
government is being formed which is mainly made up of those they fought
against, people who were part of the Ben Ali government right until the
end, who are co-responsible for the 80 people who were killed by the
regime during the insurrection. The fact that a few “oppositionists” who
did not play any significant role during the movement are being
included does not change anything. The promises of freedom for all
political prisoners, freedom of expression and democratic elections do
not change anything. The people fear that their victory on Friday is
being stolen in front of their own eyes. A young unemployed worker
summarised the feelings of the people: “It is as if Ben Ali was still
here. The people from this government never had the courage to say
‘enough’ to Ben Ali. They want to steal our revolution. They did nothing
to remove him. They should go!”
A new and powerful wave of anger is building up from below. This
morning (Tuesday January 18), new demonstrations took place, including a
few thousand in the capital, 10,000 in Sfax (where a general strike has been called for tomorrow), thousands in Sidi Bouzid, 1000 in Regueb (population 7,000), thousands in Kairouan, 3,000 in Kelibia and
also 500 in Kasserine. In Tataouine the demonstrators ransacked the
headquarters of the RCD. There were also demonstrations, numbering
thousands, in Beja, in Gabes,
in Mahdia, Hamma, Gafsa, Feriana, Kairouan, Zarzis, Kelibia, etc. Many
of this demonstrations were organised by or rallied at the headquarters
of the regional and local unions of the UGTT. One observer put it this
way: “the Tunisian population feels that the Revolution is being driven
away from its ideals. The main view of the opposition is that the people
who made the revolution are not represented and that by keeping the RCD
on board, and even at the steering wheel, the former regime is
perpetuating itself.” This forced the UGTT national leadership today to
announce that it does not recognise the new government and that it is
withdrawing from it, this less than 24 hours from its formation!
The national leadership of the UGTT is not known for its radicalism.
Last week it met with Ben Ali and welcomed the promises he made in a
last desperate attempt to save his skin. On Sunday they went on national
TV to distance themselves from appeals for demonstrations on Monday and
called on all workers to report back for work and “re-establish
normality”. If they have now been forced to make such a statement it
means that the pressure coming from the rank and file of the trade
unions and from the regional unions must be very strong and they fear
losing their positions. Even the former communist party Ettajdid, which
has joined the new government, issued a statement saying that their
participation in it was conditional on a number of demands, including
the removal of all RCD ministers!
As part of the unfulfilled tasks of the revolution, workers and
ordinary trade union members should organise the democratisation of the
trade union movement and the cleansing of the UGTT of all those who
collaborated with the Ben Ali regime. Workers require unions that are
genuine expressions of their interests. This means elections in the
workplaces must take place, and a new leadership must be prepared to
take over.
The next few hours and days will be crucial. The workers and youth of
Tunisia have shown great courage and revolutionary determination. They
must not allow the revolution to be taken away from them. They should
rely only in their own forces, the forces that brought down Ben Ali. The
Committees which exist in the neighbourhoods should be maintained and
should link up through elected representatives at a local, regional and
national level. Similar committees should be set up in the work places,
within the ranks of the Army, amongst the students, etc. These are the
only bodies that are legitimate representatives of the revolutionary
people and which should be tasked with convening the Constituent
Assembly. None of the politicians from the old regime can be trusted as
the masses correctly understand.
The slogans of the day should be: Down with the national unity
government! For a revolutionary constituent assembly based on the
committees! Fraternisation with the army ranks and setting up of
soldiers’ committees! The UGTT should call a general strike to enforce
the will of the people! Trial and punishment of those responsible for
repression under the Ben Ali regime! Expropriation of the wealth of the
Trabelsi clan! The revolution continues; the workers and youth should
remain vigilant!
The Ben Ali regime was not only a dictatorship, but a capitalist
dictatorship. This is the reason why France, Italy, the US and the rest
of the imperialist powers supported Ben Ali right until the very last
minute. We also note that the Socialist International has decided to
remove the RCD from its ranks, an embarrassing decision which shows that
when it comes to imperialism the social democratic leaders always play
the same imperialist tune.
If the revolution is to be taken to its logical conclusions, and the
demands for work and dignity are to be fulfilled, the wealthy of the
Tunisian capitalist class, the banks, industries and companies which
supported, backed, financed and benefited from the dictatorship, must be
expropriated. Only in this way, can the wealth of the country created
by working people be put under the control of this same working people
in order to fulfil the needs of the population. The aspirations of the
Tunisian masses can only be genuinely satisfied through a social, as
well as a political revolution: a socialist revolution.
Notes:
1 See The Portuguese Revolution, by Alan Woods, June, 1974; The Revolution in Portugal, by Ted Grant, May 1975; and Worker’s History – Portuguese Revolution 1974,
by Phil Mitichinson, May 1994 for a detailed analysis of the 1974
Portuguese revolution and the role played by such figures.