The revolutionary initiative of the masses continues¶
Core Argument¶
Here, Jorge Martín charts the rapidly unfolding Tunisian revolution in the days following the ousting of Ben Ali, arguing that the masses are not merely celebrating a change of figurehead but are actively deepening the revolution against the entire apparatus of the old regime. The core narrative thrust is that the “new” government of national unity, led by Ben Ali’s own prime minister Ghannouchi, is a transparent attempt by the ruling class to contain the uprising, and that the revolutionary initiative remains firmly on the streets and in the workplaces.
Martín marshals a cascade of evidence to demonstrate this dual-power dynamic. The government’s concessions—legalising parties, announcing an amnesty, nationalising RCD buildings—are dismissed as hypocritical gestures, given that the same ministers presided over the killing of protesters. The real action, he shows, is elsewhere. Mass demonstrations continue nationwide, with general strikes demanding the government’s resignation. More significantly, in towns like Sidi Bou Ali and Siliana, citizens have formed local revolutionary councils to manage public affairs, explicitly rejecting the return of old mayors backed by the army. Martín reproduces the full statement from the Bou Rouis Council for the Protection of the People’s Revolution, which demands a transitional government of untainted national figures, the dissolution of parliament, and a ban on former regime elements from political activity. This is presented as an extraordinary instance of the masses not only seizing power locally but standing firm against military attempts to restore the old order.
The chapter also documents the revolution’s extension into the economic sphere. Workers at state-owned newspapers like La Presse have taken editorial control; at the STAR insurance company, the SNDP oil distributor, the Banque de Tunisie, and Tunisie Telecom, workers have physically expelled CEOs and managers linked to the Trabelsi clan, seizing documents to prevent their destruction. Martín notes the panic this provokes in the business press, which complains of a “lack of respect for the law” and warns against putting “businessmen on their knees.” He also highlights a growing challenge to the UGTT trade union bureaucracy, which had collaborated with the dictatorship.
The theoretical context is classical Marxism’s analysis of revolutionary situations and dual power. The chapter argues that a situation of dual power—the old state apparatus versus the emerging organs of popular power—cannot last indefinitely. The polemical target is twofold: first, the liberal-democratic illusion that a change of government personnel suffices; second, the passivity that would allow the ruling class to regroup. Martín insists that the revolutionary committees and trade unions must coordinate nationally, convene a democratic constituent assembly, and pose the question of taking power. Without this bold advance, he warns, the cycle of uprising, concessions, and eventual repression will repeat. The homage to the martyrs, he concludes, is not mourning but the complete destruction of the old order.