Tunisians mimic June 30 protests in Egypt

Sara Rashad

Tunisians have chosen to mark the 10th anniversary of what came to be known as the “Arab Spring” by staging protests against the Ennahda Movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in their country.

Protesters took to the streets to express dissatisfaction with their country’s conditions on the anniversary of the spring.

Some of the protesters carried placards critical of Ennahda’s head Rached Ghannouchi. They accused him of involvement in the increase of hatred and violence in Tunisia.

Some of the demonstrators also demonstrated in support of secular state institutions and against Ennahda’s attempts to create a religious state in their country. They said the secular nature of the Tunisian state was under threat by Ennahda.

The Tunisian General Labor Union, the largest union in Tunisia, was at the heart of the demonstrations. The union had staged protests on December 18, accusing Ennahda of causing the Tunisian state to derail.

The demonstrators called for the protection of Tunisians’ basic rights. They also chanted against Ennahda and called for kicking Ghannouchi out of the Tunisian political scene.

Simulating June 30

The demonstrators defended secularism and renounced violence.

In this, they copied the example of millions of Egyptians who took to the streets in June 2013 to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood as well.

The protests in Egypt unified Egyptians against this Islamist organization. This was why the military establishment had to intervene in favor of the majority of the Egyptian public.

In Tunisia, however, the number of demonstrators on the 2011 revolution anniversary was not large enough to convince the military establishment to intervene in favor of the public.

Ennahda jumped into the Tunisian political scene soon after the 2011 revolution erupted. It made inroads into the parliament and the government. This is different from the case of Egypt where the Brotherhood did not have enough time to control all aspects of the state.