Lagging economy threatens Tunisia's fledgling democracy

Nationwide protests have rocked Tunisia, whose representative democracy was one of the few success stories to come out of the 2011 Arab Spring.

Last year, a group of Tunisian human rights activists, lawyers, employers, and labor leaders won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in building democracy and preventing political failure in Tunisia. But multiple terror attacks and last week’s economic protests show the country still has a long way to go.

Protests against dictators in the Arab world started in Tunisia in late 2010 after vendor Mohammed Bouzazizi killed himself over the lack of jobs in the region. Last week, similar nationwide demonstrations began after a man in Kasserine in central Tunisia climbed a transmission tower to protest the lack of jobs and was electrocuted to death.

Hundreds of unemployed graduates marched into Kasserine’s administrative building to demand more jobs. Similar protests spread throughout the country, including in Tunis, the nation’s capital. In response, the government imposed a nationwide curfew to calm the widespread unrest.

“It’s been five years since the revolution,” said Marouane M’daini, an unemployed Tunisian college graduate. “I’d love to work, that’s all I think about. It’s exhausting.”

Tunisia’s general unemployment rate is up to 15 percent from 10 percent in 2010, while 30 percent of its youth remain without jobs.

With the high level of unemployment, many Tunisians are joining neighboring Islamic militant groups. More than 3,000 Tunisians are believed to be fighting for groups such as Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. But Maya Yahya of the Carnegie Middle East Center said the draw toward ISIS goes beyond unemployment. Some middle-class, employed Tunisians still join the militants.

“The reasons people are moving towards ISIS are numerous,” Yahya said. “The sense of wanting to belong to something bigger, wanting to be a part of a larger project that is meaningful—ISIS is coming in and is selling that.”

Tunisia’s economy, which is heavily reliant on tourism, began to dwindle even more last year after several attacks by ISIS. In June, an attack on a beach resort left 38 tourists dead. More deadly attacks occurred at Tunis’ Bardo Museum and on a bus carrying members of the Tunisian presidential guard, 12 of whom died.

The Tunisian government has relaxed the nationwide curfew, citing an improved security situation in the country. Local authorities curtailed the protesters, but 30 percent of the nation’s youth still remain unemployed.

“The government needs to have a very concrete strategy,” Yahya said. “Unless these issues are addressed, we’ll see these protests continue, and they may just get worse.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.