TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia is marking eight years since its democratic uprising amid deepening economic troubles and simmering anger at the revolution’s unfulfilled promises.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi is inaugurating a revolution exhibit Monday at the country’s leading museum as he tries to calm national tensions.
Unions plan a rally Monday to decry Tunisia’s economic troubles, and are threatening a general strike Thursday that could disrupt airports, ports and tourism.
Tensions resurfaced after a Tunisian journalist set himself on fire last month in the impoverished Kasserine region to protest unemployment and corruption and lack of opportunity. The desperate act echoed a vendor’s self-immolation that sparked Tunisia’s 2011 revolution.
The uprising led to the ouster of a longtime autocrat and brought Tunisia democracy. It unleashed revolts around the region dubbed the Arab Spring.
