Reject the farce of national unity – continue the revolution until victory¶
Core Argument¶
Here, Jorge Martín argues that the Tunisian revolution of January 2011, having ousted Ben Ali, immediately faced a counter-revolutionary manoeuvre by the domestic ruling class and its imperialist backers. The core narrative thrust is that the formation of a “national unity government” was a deliberate farce designed to preserve the old regime’s economic and state apparatus under a new façade. The chapter contends that the ruling class had two aims: ensure continuity of the old order, and feign novelty to regain legitimacy on the streets. Martín details the frantic invocation of constitutional articles 56 and 57, the rapid succession of Ghannouchi and Mebazaa, and the inclusion of token “loyal opposition” figures as a fig leaf, while Ben Ali’s police and secret services—120,000 strong in a country of ten million—roamed in unmarked cars, shooting civilians and fomenting chaos to create a climate of fear.
The chapter draws heavily on the spontaneous emergence of dual power. Martín describes how neighbourhood committees of men, women, and children armed with sticks and knives built barricades, fought the ministry of interior forces, and began provisioning food and maintaining order. In Bizerte, the army attempted to take over from these committees but was forced to accept their continued presence. This is placed in historical context via a comparison to the 1974 Portuguese revolution, where General Spinola briefly posed as a friend of the revolution before attempting a coup. Martín warns that Tunisian army generals, as a capitalist institution, are not to be trusted, but urges fraternisation with ordinary soldiers and lower-ranking officers, calling for soldiers’ committees to link with workplace and neighbourhood committees.
The polemic is sharp and multi-directional. Martín attacks the former Stalinist and reformist parties—Ettajdid, the FDTL, and the PDP—for joining a government flanked by Ben Ali’s torturer, Abdallah Kallel. He denounces the Islamist En Nahda for attempting to ride the revolution’s coat-tails while playing no role in the insurrection. The UGTT national leadership is criticised for initially meeting Ben Ali and calling for a return to “normality,” only being forced to withdraw from the government by rank-and-file pressure. The chapter concludes that the revolution must become socialist: the wealth of the Tunisian capitalist class—banks, industries, companies that financed the dictatorship—must be expropriated. The slogans are uncompromising: down with the national unity government, for a revolutionary constituent assembly based on the committees, and a general strike to enforce the people’s will.