Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

The Tunisian Youth Fallout:
A Look at Youth Voter Apathy During the 2011 Election
David Jackson
“Tunisian artists and politicians are alike. They only care what their
colleagues think, and don’t create anything of substance that the general
public can understand.” Sheyma Arfewi, 23-year-old student at Ecole
Normale Supérieure de Tunis
The legend of Mohammed Bouazizi, the fruit vendor whose continued encounters with
corrupt police officials led to his self-immolation, epitomizes the struggle of Tunisian
youth under the Ben Ali regime. The youths’ built up frustrations finally overwhelmed
any fear of reprisal and initially led to mass protests in Tunisia’s interior. Word of the
government’s heavy-handed repression of protests in Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, and Thala
eventually spread across the country until youth, those between the ages of 18 to 35, lined
the streets in Tunis calling for Ben Ali to dégage, or “get out.” But this narrative, so often
used by analysts to describe the heroics of Tunisia’s youth, usually stops short. The harsh
reality is that their interest in the democratic process might be slipping and their plight
has not been given sufficient attention.
Since the end of the Ben Ali regime there seems to be a decline in the youths’
interest in the formal democratization process, as characterized by political parties
competing in free and fair elections. One indication of increased disinterest in this
process is seen in Tunisia’s recent National Constituent Assembly (NCA) election, where
large numbers of eligible youth decided not to register to vote. Their apathy was realized
during a “Rap the Vote” program, led by a local transparency organization. The program
sent Psyco M, a prominent Tunisian rapper, to visit Gafsa to encourage youth to vote.
When he enthusiastically asked the young audience whether or not they were going to
vote they all replied in unison, “no” (Youth Activists Meeting, Tunis, 21 January 2012).
Between the final days of the old regime in January 2011 and the NCA election in
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