Lesson From Tunisia: Chaos Fruits Of Government Promises On Unemployment

JAKARTA - The rising unemployment rate has prompted Tunisians to take to the streets demanding the promise of the owner of the policy to create jobs. The demonstration, which started peacefully, then became chaotic as protesters started throwing stones at police and blocking roads in Tataouine City on Monday, June 22.

Police then threw tear gas to disperse the protesters. As reported by Reuters, protesters who attended the rally demanded the government implement the deal in 2017.

In the agreement, the government promised to create jobs in oil companies and infrastructure projects as a solution to reduce unemployment. However, after a decade after the people's revolution, the Arab Spring which ended the rule of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, promises never kept.

Even worse. This is because in this North African state, in fact, there has never been any significant effort to open up economic opportunities for unemployed youth in poor areas like Tataouine.

#Tataouine - Dimanche soirDes heurts entre police et manifestants réclamant des emplois suivis d'1 appel de la puissante formation syndicale -UGT- à une grève générale (#Tunisie) pic.twitter.com/QMFpFRUyVA

- lamine (@LamineKingbird) June 22, 2020

The chaos of the action made the atmosphere in the City of Tataouine tense. One eyewitness who is also a Tunisian, Ismail Smida revealed that the situation was becoming dangerous.

“The situation is dangerous in our area. From the window of my house, I saw police forces randomly launching tear gas and chasing the youths, ”said Ismail.

Other eyewitnesses also said the same thing. Police seemed busy dispersing angry protesters and blocking roads. In fact, some of the protesters appeared to be agitating the police by shouting: We will not give up, we want our rights to development and jobs.

Previously, in 2017, similar protests also took place. At that time, protesters who demanded the presence of jobs made the City of Tataouine and Kebili heating up. On this basis, an agreement was presented between the owners of the policy and the protesters, which promised employment in oil and infrastructure projects.

However, after three years of agreement, the promise has not been carried out. Allegedly, the crisis that has occurred in Tunisia to this day is none other than the massive Arab Spring protest movement in 2011.

At that time, large-scale demonstrations caused the government in Tunisia to collapse. However, the fall of the government does not mean the presence of new hope. Tunisia is in fact in a crisis and suffering from chronic problems, such as high inflation, unemployment and corruption.