Dawn of "Mani Pulite" in Tunisia?


A few days ago we had violent clashes in the south (starting from El Kamour sit-in and Tataouine) between protesters and authorities (army and national guard).  The protests were similar to those of 2011 (socio-economical demands) especially that the marginalization of the south is continuing 6 years after the revolution.

The violent repression of these protests resulted in 1 dead and 300 injured which sparked protests in the whole country (recalling 2011 Bouazizi).

The protests were in a big part denouncing corruption and social injustice, especially that on May 19, Imed Trabelsi, one of the main members of the Trabelsi clan, made a public confession to the Truth and Dignity Commission aired widely in the country, where he described precisely the mechanisms of corruption and some of the state officials/businessmen involved.

He also stated that the same people and methods are still operating in Tunisia even after the revolution. This confession resulted in temporarily abandoning the much-contested reconciliation economic bill by the parliament. And just a few days after (May 24), the current prime minister, Youssef Chahed, started a "mani polite" operation declaring the state of emergency and arresting a number of business men and customs officials suspected of being involved in corruption, smuggling, and even terrorism-related activities. The number has been growing as you are reading these lines.



The streets seem to have calmed down a bit and the public opinion is supporting the PM is his "fight against the corrupt". We still don't know what's going to happen next and how the judicial investigation will go. However, since 2011, I haven't seen Tunisians as excited and optimist.

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