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

to bridge the gap and draw in these industrious and active youth and get their increased
participation in the political system.
What is at Stake?
It is important to mention that while some youth did participate in the NCA election,
many decided not to register to vote because they felt distanced from the political
leadership at the time. While some of these potential participants chose to channel their
political will through constructive means such as joining or creating civil society
organizations, there are others who employed destructive means such as aggressive
protests, illegal strikes, and sit-ins. Such destructive acts are on the rise since the NCA
elections, and many are perpetrated by youth in the areas, such as the interior, most
neglected by past politicians. In general, these groups make up two ends of the extreme.
On the far left, there is a movement by workers and unemployed youth who employ
illegal protests, not condoned by Tunisia’s various unions, to gain improved benefits or
job creation. On the far right, the salafists, a group of young men and women who
practice Wahhabi fundamentalist Islam, aggressively protest the established order and the
university system to gain greater expectance for the increased practice of Islam in society.
One of the biggest challenges the fledging government faces is how to get these
two fringe movements, whose ranks are mainly filled with disgruntled youth, to buy into
the new democratic order that Tunisia is trying to install. During the month of January
2012 alone, just a year after Ben Ali fled the country, strikes and protests shut down
agribusiness and commerce in Béja, Gafsa, Jendouba, le Kef, Kasserine, Nabeul, and
Seliana. Like most of Tunisia, these towns have been hit hard by Tunisia’s economic
decline, and desperate youth have been calling on the government to improve working
conditions and create more jobs. At the same time, a group of young salafists staged a
hunger strike at Manouba University to call for a removal of the ban of the niqab, or fullface
veil, on campus. The strikes and protests from both groups destabilized their
respective communities, causing commerce to shut down in much of the interior of the
country and students’ final exams to be postponed. Sadly neither group represents the
majority of Tunisians, yet their actions are disturbing the transition process. The salafists
136