One month since the overthrow of Ben Ali¶
Core Argument¶
One month after the overthrow of Ben Ali, Jorge Martín assesses the Tunisian revolution as an unresolved war between classes. The core argument is that the revolutionary workers and youth, who toppled the dictator on January 14, have been locked in a struggle against a ruling class desperate to restore bourgeois normality. The chapter contends that the revolution could have seized state power during the two weeks following Ben Ali’s fall, when the Government of National Unity (GNU) under Ghannouchi—packed with former Ben Ali ministers—was suspended in mid-air, but lacked the revolutionary leadership necessary to deliver the decisive blow.
Martín provides detailed evidence of the revolutionary momentum. Regional general strikes and mass demonstrations forced the UGTT trade union leadership to withdraw from the GNU, while revolutionary youth from the provinces marched on Tunis on January 23, camping at the Kasbah and paralysing government operations. The historic strike of Sfax on January 26 saw 100,000 march, and 20,000 demonstrated in Sidi Bouzid the following day. Yet the UGTT’s Administrative Council, despite opposition from key federations representing a majority of members, formally accepted the reshuffled GNU, granting it legitimacy. The government immediately used this breathing space to violently disperse the Kasbah camp on January 28.
The chapter draws on the Marxist theory of dual power, arguing that elements of this condition persist. The government appoints governors, but revolutionary committees expel them; the state dissolves the RCD party, but rules through Ben Ali’s parliament; workers in ministries, state media, and state-owned enterprises eject managers and reject government appointees. The regime can only rule by relying on the UGTT leadership to police the strike wave, but the union’s national leaders admit they have been overtaken by rank-and-file militancy. The chapter polemicises against the Stalinist tradition, comparing the situation to the French Popular Front of 1936. It argues that Tunisia needs no Maurice Thorez to call off strikes, and that the former communist party Ettajdid is discredited by its collaboration with Ben Ali. The real missing element is a revolutionary leadership with a programme of workers’ power and international socialism. The mother of a martyr from Kasserine is quoted to underscore that without real change, a new revolution will come.