We've already seen the upheavals in countries like Lebanon, Sudan and Ivory Coast over the course of the last few months, now we can add Tunisia to that list.
The North African nation, suffered from violence and street protests last week, that began when a man set himself on fire after police confiscated his produce. This eventually led to a social and political unrest with Tunisia's people, fed up with unemployment, inflation and shortages, rioting on the streets and forcing military intervention. The rioting came to an end with demands that its President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, cease power and immediately step down. Ben Ali had declared a state of emergency for the country and dissolved its government, promising to establish a new one.
Doesn't look like Ben Ali is going to help with the process at all, since he fled to Saudi Arabia to avoid any forms of revolt against him, not to mention that he and his family took about $66 million worth of gold, out of Tunisia as well.
In the meantime, Tunisia's prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi is forced with a nearly impossible process of maintaining solvency by trying to establish a new unified government. He has stated publicly that Tunisia will release political prisoners of opposition and pick out those involved with any form of corruption.
Tunisia's people however, are not buying into the program, at least not yet. Many of them strongly feel that Prime Minister Ghannouchi brings nothing new to Tunisia's government and will bring absolutely no change compared to the policies of its now ousted president Ben Ali.
At the height of this turmoil, it has risen strong concern for all countries in North Africa. Perhaps Tunisia's largest problem right now, like every other country on this planet, is faced with economic issues. It might sound odd when you consider that Tunisia is one of Africa's most wealthiest nations, yet the possibly of having to be apart of restructuring or defaulting on debt among North African nations has become a huge concern.
No comments:
Post a Comment