Tunisia gained its independence from France in 1956 but for the past 23 years has been ruled by one man, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, whose nickname was ironically, "Ben A Vie" - president for life.

As events unfolded in Tunisia, the common perception across the Muslim world was that Tunisia's problems were depressingly similar to theirs: a high unemployment rate, rising prices for food and fuel, repression, endemic corruption, cronyism and a lack of transparency and democracy.

In addition, its people suffered under a ruling class that consolidated power and money in a few hands.

Tunisia's Ben Ali would get over 90 percent of the votes in elections and although he was a convenient friend of the west and a friend against Islamic extremism, the excesses of his administration sparked outrage at home.

The anti-government protests in Tunisia which forced Ben Ali to flee and seek refuge in Saudi Arabia will be watched nervously by long-serving Muslim leaders, wondering if they can prevent a rising tide of anger from turning into waves of revolutions and fearful that it might embolden groups in their own countries.

Ben Ali initially sought asylum in Paris but was turned away by Sarkozy.

One Egyptian commentator said, "Every Arab leader is watching Tunisia in fear. Every Arab citizen is watching Tunisia in hope and solidarity."

Prompted by the protests, Egyptian opposition leader and former chief UN weapons inspector, Mohamed El Baradei said, "Violence in Tunisia now is a product of decades of repression."

 Growing corruption

People have been complaining about the growing corruption in Ben Ali's inner circle. Even average Tunisians are now keenly aware of it, and the chorus of complaints is rising.

Mokhtar Aidoudi, a lawyer among the protesters said, "Today in Tunis, people have said their last word. The people want Ben Ali out, along with his corrupt government which has no credibility."

A 20-year-old medical student from Sousse condemned the suppression of websites in Tunisia and said, "We want to be able to express ourselves, a free press."

Lawyers claim that the amount of surveillance and internet censorship in Tunisia rivals that of North Korea and China.

Hussein Bouchabar, a maths teacher, was taken from his classroom in the late 80s and imprisoned for four years for holding views contrary to the regime.

Since his release, he has been unable to find work and sells vegetables in a souk. The militia regularly search and ransack his house. His phones are tapped, his children cannot get university scholarships.

A bus driver protesting alongside Bouchabar showed his injuries after being beaten by the police and said, "This country is 10 million people living in an open prison, we hope that can change."

Khadija Sharif, a sociologist and university lecturer in Tunis said, "For years, Ben Ali set about killing off political opposition parties, weakening and dividing them. The street protests are spontaneous, not a movement with a leader".

It all started when a young graduate, Mohammed Bouazizi, failed unsuccessfully to find employment, like countless others in Tunisia. So, he sold fruit and vegetables to earn money. The police confiscated his produce because he lacked a permit. Filled with despair, he immolated himself with petrol.

He died and became a hero, not just in Tunisia but throughout north Africa. His death sparked waves of protests which originated in his hometown, Sidi Bouzid, a struggling rural town away from Tunisia's famed tourist beaches.

Ben Ali responded in characteristic style: First - the brutal crackdown. Second - the empty promises of change.

By this time, Tunisians were done with his lies and corruption. Schools and universities closed and students protested on the streets despite a growing death toll.

Bouazizi may have been the spark, but the groundwork was laid by the WikiLeaks revelations which detailed the views of the US ambassador in Tunis, who described the regime's opulence.

Ben-Ali's daughter and her playboy husband would have ice cream flown in from St Tropez. They had a caged pet tiger called Pasha which was fed four chickens and prime cuts of beef daily. A second WikiLeaks cable described how another relative stole a £2 million yacht from a French businessman.

All these helped galvanise the public's hatred of the president's relatives, who were widely seen as symbols of corruption and cronyism.

Feisty brunette

Ben Ali's second wife, Leila Trabelsi, the real power behind the throne, is a feisty brunette who is 20 years his junior anccd is dubbed "The Regent of Carthage", and was likened to the Philippines' Imelda Marcos.

Amongst other things, she is accused of using her marriage to benefit her extended family to form the nation's most powerful business clique.

Tunisians intensely dislike, even hate, the ‘First Lady' and her family. In private, regime opponents mock her; some government officials also express dismay at her reported behaviour.

Ben Ali's family preferred to be called "Tunisia's First Family" although in lesser circles they were dubbed "The Mafia" because of their greed and nepotism, which ultimately caused their downfall.

Leila's brother, Belhassen, owns an airline, several hotels, two of Tunisia's private radio stations and a car plant. Very few criticisms of the ‘First Family' emerged in the country because most of the media were owned by members of their family.

Much of the corrupt ‘First family's' £3.5 billion fortune is probably banked in France, its former colonial master.

An Egyptian human rights activist, Hossam Bahgat, said, "What's significant about Tunisia is that literally days ago the regime seemed unshakable, and then eventually democracy prevailed without a single western state lifting a finger."

Countries all over the world will be watching the Tunisian uprising with interest. In many north African states, anger has been welling-up amongst the young - one in five are 15 to 24-years-old, well-educated, mix freely with tourists and use Facebook.

Despite the highly censored media, the government could not prevent Tunisians from finding out about the opulent lifestyle of their president's family and the widespread corruption. This fired up the nation's youth and provoked the riots. The president had no choice but to flee.

 

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.