Tunisia's President Flees

[Senoska]

I can't believe I haven't seen a thread for this yet..

Videos:

The Tunisian capital was in turmoil on Saturday as squads of men in civilian clothes driving through the city at high speed shooting randomly at buildings and people in what analysts suspect was an attempt by forces loyal to the ousted president to sow chaos and destabilise a tense transition.


The dramatic transition that swept president Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali from power on Friday took another twist as the prime minister who had taken over as caretaker president was also pushed aside and the speaker of parliament assumed presidential powers.

As Mr Ben Ali, the president for 23 years, landed in Saudi Arabia after fleeing the country in the face of month-long violent protests, demonstrations broke out in several Tunisian cities demanding the removal of Mohamed Ghannouchi, the prime minister who had assumed presidential powers on Friday and promised wide-ranging reforms.
The army was struggling to restore order amid a wave of looting and destruction by young gangs. Reuters reporters witnessed a number of shootings in the capital, Tunis.

The constitutional council, the highest legal authority in the country, announced that the speaker of parliament, Fouad Mebazaa would be the interim president, and said that, according to the constitution, presidential elections would now have to be held within 60 days.


The fast-paced events have left a security vacuum in many parts of the country which has been exploited by groups of youth looting shops and attacking citizens overnight.

Many Tunisians said they suspected that gangs affiliated with Ben Ali were bent on sowing chaos and destabilising the transition to a new order.

Tens of prisoners were killed in a fire at a jail in the resort town of Monastir and other inmates have fled, three witnesses Reuters reported on Saturday.

George Joffe, a North Africa expert at Cambridge university, said there were signs of a power struggle within the ruling RCD party long controlled by Mr Ben Ali. “The problem is that the army was brought in but it doesn’t want to get involved so it wants a constitutional set-up that has legitimacy,” he said.

In Sidi Bouzid, the town where the riots began in December after a young man set himself on fire when police confiscated his stall of fruit and vegetables, middle-aged women and teachers were marching Saturday morning and calling on Mr Ghannouchi to go.



They also demanded that the former interior minister, blamed for dozens of deaths in recent weeks, be put on trial or driven out of the country. A chanting crowd of about 250 people gathered around the headquarters of the ruling party, some attempting to climb the railings while others burnt posters of Mr Ben Ali. The crowd began to disperse after an army jeep arrived and two soldiers with small arms.

The end of the Ben Ali era marks a rare case of an Arab leader brought down by popular revolt. It will alarm the region’s autocratic leaders but give hope to younger people that change is possible. But given the firm control that Mr Ben Ali held over all state institutions, his departure is set to be the beginning of a long and painful transition.
“This is a crucial moment. There is a change of regime under way,” Najib Chebbi, an opposition leader, told a French television station. “It must lead to profound reforms ... and let the people choose.”

On Friday the White House said the US applauded the “courage and dignity” of Tunisians and stood witness to “this brave and determined struggle for the universal rights that we must all uphold”. It called on the government to hold free and fair elections.

Riots started a month ago with protests by unemployed graduates but quickly spread, reaching Tunis earlier this week. Although the ex-president rolled out one concession after another, the demands of Tunisians coalesced around one issue: that Mr Ben Ali had to leave.



A population that has been silenced by restrictions on free speech suddenly found a voice, with much of the fury directed at Mr Ben Ali’s family. “Hearts were so filled with anger,” said a local analyst.



The unrest in the country of 10m people has left dozens dead, as police fired on protesters. The army, more respected than the police, was deployed across the country over the past week, but for the most part stayed outside towns.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Ben Ali was still desperately clinging to power, announcing that he was dismissing his government and would hold legislative elections in six months. But the thousands of Tunisians who took to the streets of the capital were not satisfied. “Go, go, go ... game over,” they chanted.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f88ce6f2-2...44feab49a.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa...ex.html?hpt=T2


tldr: POWER TO THE PEOPLE, VIVA LE REVOLUTION!

[Chun Liroy]

Who cares about tunisia?

[Senoska]

Who cares about a country's government, ruled by a strict dictatorship, being overthrown by the people? The teachers, the workers, and the students took to the streets in the name of democracy and having a voice.

What don't you get about this?

[Despain]

Who cares about a country's government, ruled by a strict dictatorship, being overthrown by the people? The teachers, the workers, and the students took to the streets in the name of democracy and having a voice.

What don't you get about this?

This. Obvious troll is obvious.

At any rate, this caught my eye.

[Senoska]

Watch the video on CNN. Or scroll down a bit and watch how social media has impacted this.

edit: Added video to OP.

[Senoska]

Graphic video describing semi-recent events:

Spoiler: show

[Zettofaia]

What better place for a dictator to find shelter than my country! This is all so funny lol;

Typical response from Bin Ali too, "Hey guys I totally didn't know the government was corrupt! brb new version update"

[Ashmada]

What better place for a dictator to find shelter than my country! This is all so funny lol;

Typical response from Bin Ali too, "Hey guys I totally didn't know the government was corrupt! brb new version update"

"I totally didn't personally order the police and army to fire upon protesters, either! What do you mean, I admitted it a few days ago?"

Apparently, his initial plan was to land in Paris, not Saudi Arabia. Sarkozy turned him down.

[Yugl]

Who cares about a country's government, ruled by a strict dictatorship, being overthrown by the people? The teachers, the workers, and the students took to the streets in the name of democracy and having a voice.

What don't you get about this?

I think his question is more about the country itself (If not trolling) than the event itself. Tunisia doesn't have the world class economic status to be considered "significant" by most economic and political science standards. They are neither a major oil producer not a central figure in the Arabic world. There is speculation that developing unrest in Algeria was sparked by this and that several other nations are waiting to take action, but that's purely speculation. Even more important is the fact that it has yet to become a democracy even though you claim that to be the case. It is currently under military power with set curfews and battles against old regime members. A very strong correlation with this event (Both geographically, the type of leaders that power players that emerge from the event, and underlying revolutionary ideals) is when Obasanjo led a military revolution against the government in the name of democracy. Indeed, he did establish a temporary democracy, but it fell within 1-2 leaders following his rule. He later had to take over the government again and created "elections", but many of these elections were ripe with fraud. In short, you're too easily entertained by the situation and attempting to derive conclusions that necessitate a long period of time (i.e. you're playing a psychic). You have to have more than facts for something to be substantive. They have to have meaning as well. For cautious groups, this event lacks meaning until more develops.

Edit: And the reason you didn't see this sooner on BG is because BG politics lacks depth beyond facts-game, ideological testimony, and blaming figures. It's difficult for posters to apply this to foreign politics when they can neither name the head of state nor point to figures that they know others will emotionally react towards.

[Maguspk]

Yeah I've been hearing about it the past few days on Twitter but have yet to see any news on it.

[friedfunk]

Nice to see his wife had time to stop by the central bank to collect 1.5 tons of gold before heading out.

[Kerberoz]

Tunisia had 1.5 tons of gold?

[Waraji]

Cuz ya know, democracy is so much better! Quite as easily controlled by exterior forces than any other "government"... "That government is best which governs least." On a lighter note, wonder when the globalized government will begin to seem apparent.

[Kuya]

What the fuck are you talking about

[Yugl]

Cuz ya know, democracy is so much better! Quite as easily controlled by exterior forces than any other "government"... "That government is best which governs least." On a lighter note, wonder when the globalized government will begin to seem apparent.

What the fuck are you talking about

Edit: And the reason you didn't see this sooner on BG is because BG politics lacks depth beyond facts-game, ideological testimony, and blaming figures. It's difficult for posters to apply this to foreign politics when they can neither name the head of state nor point to figures that they know others will emotionally react towards.

See what I mean.

[Ashmada]

Cuz ya know, democracy is so much better! Quite as easily controlled by exterior forces than any other "government"... "That government is best which governs least." On a lighter note, wonder when the globalized government will begin to seem apparent.

http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons...jpg?1247387782

[BadKarma]

I didnt even know there was a country named Tunisia.