When Jasmine Wilts: Democracy and Decline in Tunisia
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
By Adam Dave-Bouhlel
In December of 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi, a street-vendor, self-immolated in the small Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid. This action was in protest against police harassment, embodying the plight of many Tunisians. His actions served as the impetus for a slew of revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), known today as the Arab Spring. In January 2011, as protests erupted across Tunisia, authoritarian ruler Zine el-Abadine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia after 23 years of power. This year, Tunisia celebrated the 15th anniversary of what became known as the ‘Jasmine Revolution,’ named after Tunisia’s national flower.
The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia catalysed widespread regional uprisings, unseating Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and beginning civil wars in Syria and Libya. With Libya remaining in a state of insecurity, facing frequent outbursts of violence, and Syria’s 13-year long civil war only having ended in December of 2024, Tunisia was touted as the ‘only success story of the Arab Spring.’ As the sole country to have transitioned to democracy post-revolution, Tunisia had fought hard to retain its democratic process. Certainly, it maintained this reputation even as its neighbours rapidly returned to authoritarianism and remained mired in conflict.
Nonetheless, the legacy of this revolution, which empowered an entire region and brought an entrenched autocratic regime to its knees, is today under contention. Its 15th anniversary highlights how political conditions in Tunisia seem to have effectively closed the door to democracy. President Kais Saied, who won in a landslide at elections in 2019 on a platform of continued progress, has swiftly eroded his country’s fragile democratic institutions. In addition, his usurpation of power, granting himself executive control, has led his country far astray from the democratic victories it had achieved 15 years prior.
Jasmine in Full Bloom:
The news of Ben Ali’s departure from Tunisia was met with jubilant celebration across the country, with Tunisians flooding the streets as they welcomed a new era. Supported by a military which refused to target protestors, the immediate aftermath of the Jasmine Revolution was met with optimism and a true sense of change within the country. The cronyism that had accompanied Ben Ali’s reign was to be done away with, and economic opportunities would be offered to all.
For a decade after the revolution, Tunisia experienced a period of vibrant democracy, characterised by a range of new political parties, democratic enthusiasm, and a newly independent press. The country’s 2014 constitution was regarded as one of the Arab world’s most progressive, enshrining women’s rights and freedom of religion for all. Elections were held, freely and fairly, and political parties respected the wishes of their electorate. This is exemplified by the Islamist Ennahda party, which came to power in 2011, voluntarily relinquishing power to a transitional government, to ease political deadlock in 2014 against the backdrop of social tensions. This itself was in stark contrast to events occurring elsewhere in the region. In Egypt, a military coup removed the country’s first democratically elected president, whilst in Libya, a second civil war began between rival governments vying for control. Tunisia had, for the time being, truly cemented itself as the poster child for democracy and change in the MENA region, a success story that underscored the aspirations of Arabs across the region.
All the Perfumes of Arabia:
Despite the results of the Jasmine Revolution, economic and social problems subsisted in the country. Political polarisation led to clashes on social issues such as religion and gender, while the development concerns which had ignited revolution were overshadowed. Living costs also continued to rise, with official unemployment above 19% by 2021.
Materially, the revolution had yielded little positive change for citizens. A series of political assassinations in 2013 and terrorist attacks in 2015 decimated the country’s tourism sector, contributing to a sense of instability and apathy in Tunisia. This was compounded by the relentless political deadlock which hindered meaningful progress. Tunisia's broad coalition governments, spanning Islamists and secularists, paradoxically weakened democracy by crowding out meaningful opposition. Consensus-based governance, rather than strengthening institutions, hollowed them out. The result was chronic instability, twelve government changes between 2011 and 2021, each successive coalition unable to overcome the policy stagnation which hindered progress.
The fresh scent of jasmine that had once suffused the country with hope and optimism faded in the shadow of challenges facing its newfound democracy. Indeed, all the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten the reality of post-revolutionary Tunisia for many of its people. In place of visions for a democratic and economically just society, a sense of authoritarian nostalgia for the relative stability of Ben Ali’s reign began to take hold. A civil society which helped enable the revolution in 2011 has been gradually weakened, due in-part to general unpopularity amongst civilians, whilst the country’s military has become increasingly politicised as Saied continues to court its officials.
A Withering Democracy:
A decade after Tunisia’s revolution, in 2021, President Saied steered the country back towards authoritarianism. He exploited the Tuniaian parliament’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic to justify his consolidation of power and assault on democratic institutions. Seeking to centralise authority, Saied suspended the country’s constitution and granted himself extraordinary powers which enabled him to govern by decree., A significant portion of Tunisia’s population appears to have supported Saied’s actions, highlighting voter dissatisfaction with the country’s political environment and the broader outcomes of the revolution.
However, under Saied, the economy has continued to deteriorate, as he has simultaneously continued to dismantle democratic institutions. In 2022, Tunisia’s Supreme Judicial Council was dismissed, replaced by handpicked candidates, marking the politicisation of the last independent branch of government. Following a referendum in 2022, which had a low turnout of 30.5%, a newly adopted constitution expanded Saied’s powers, dismantling the system of executive power-sharing with parliament which has underpinned Tunisia’s democratic transition. This new constitution also has decreed that the president is not accountable to their parliament, creating a state of ultra-presidentialism in the country. Additionally, Kais Saied has made efforts to neutralise threats to his rule, arresting political opposition leaders, including Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahda Party, who was living in exile prior to Ben Ali’s overthrow. These are clear signs of significant democratic backsliding, Tunisia’s post-revolution apparatus has been muzzled by Saied, heralding in yet another period of authoritarianism for a country that experimented with democracy for a singular decade.
Authoritarian Bloom:
Fifteen years after Mohammed Bouazizi’s act of defiance ignited a wave of uprisings across the region, Tunisia stands at a stark crossroads. What was once renowned as the Arab Spring’s sole democratic success has, under Kais Saied, drifted back toward the very authoritarianism it sought to escape. The institutions painstakingly built in the aftermath of the Jasmine Revolution have been hollowed out, their promise undone not by a single rupture, but by a steady erosion.
Yet Tunisia’s trajectory is not simply a story of democratic failure. It is also a reflection of the conditions that sustain or undermine it. Tunisia’s failed transition has demonstrated how democracy, when unaccompanied by economic improvement and effective governance, can struggle to retain legitimacy in the eyes of its citizens.
The question that now lingers is not only whether Tunisia can reclaim its democratic path, but whether the spirit that animated its revolution can endure in the face of renewed authoritarian rule. The jasmine may have wilted, but its roots endure, embedded within the grievances and aspirations of the Tunisian people.
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