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plummet by 44.5 percent from January to October on a year-over-year
basis. Unemployment in the region stands above 50 percent and the
situation has only worsened since the revolution of 2011.
On Thursday, Interim Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali gave a live
televised message to the protesters where he refused to dismiss Siliana’s
governor and at the same time called for the people of region to be
“realistic” and not expect that the economic crisis will be solved
immediately. “Do you think there will be investment in regions with
violence?” he asked. “We are all losers.”
It is clear that not all Tunisians are “losers”. There is a stark contrast
between the luxurious lives of the Tunisian capitalists and the Ennahda
politicians and the poor unemployed youth of the middle regions of the
country. But at the same time Jebali is reflecting a certain truth in the
sense that Tunisian capitalism cannot afford to raise living standards and
solve the question of unemployment. The way forward is to break with the
system and expropriate the commanding heights of the economy which are
still in the hands of the old rulers of the country.
Jebali also dismissed recent calls for a second revolution and claimed
that a democratically elected body is legitimate and must not be
overthrown by a revolution. He also added: “What do you mean when you
say ‘dégage’ to the governor? You mean that you want the government in
power to leave; saying ‘dégage’ to the government is chaos.”
To this an activist replied on Twitter: “Mr. Jebali that “dégage” is
what brought you to power and took you out of prisons, and if it wasn’t for
that dégage you wouldn’t be giving this speech right now Mr.
‘Legitimate’.”
It is clear that the Tunisian bourgeoisie is manoeuvring to betray the
revolution, but the Tunisian masses are confident in their own powers.
They can remember who brought down Ben Ali and they understand that
they can do it again.
Economy:
Free Trade and Economic Imperialism