The political temperature in Tunis is soaring. In a dramatic escalation of the standoff between President Kais Saied’s government and its critics, several prominent Tunisian opposition figures have declared a hunger strike. Their cause: to stand in solidarity with Jawhar Ben Mbarek, a leading anti-government voice who has been languishing in pre-trial detention for over a year.
This is not just a protest; it’s a desperate plea from the heart of a nation that, just over a decade ago, sparked the Arab Spring and was hailed as its lone democratic success story.
The Case of Jawhar Ben Mbarek
At the centre of this storm is Jawhar Ben Mbarek, a constitutional law expert and a key figure in the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front. He was arrested in February 2023 along with about 20 other political opponents, journalists, and activists. The charge against them is grave: “conspiracy against state security.” However, human rights organisations and the opposition themselves have decried the arrests as politically motivated and designed to silence dissent against President Kais Saied’s rule.
For over a year, Ben Mbarek has been held without trial. His decision to begin a hunger strike from his cell was a final, drastic measure to protest what his supporters call an unjust and indefinite imprisonment. Now, his colleagues on the outside are raising the stakes.
A ‘Battle for Dignity’: Opposition Joins the Hunger Strike
Figures including Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, the veteran politician who heads the National Salvation Front, have now joined the hunger strike. In a statement, the Front declared this a “battle for dignity” against a “tyrannical authority.” This act of solidarity is a powerful symbol. The hunger strike, a form of protest that resonates deeply for its non-violent and self-sacrificial nature, is intended to draw both domestic and international attention to the plight of political prisoners in Tunisia.
The Political Context: A Return to Autocracy?
This crisis has been years in the making. In July 2021, President Saied, a former law professor elected on an anti-establishment platform, took decisive and controversial steps. Citing a national emergency, he sacked the government, froze parliament, and assumed sweeping executive powers. A year later, he pushed through a new constitution, cementing his one-man rule and effectively dismantling the democratic checks and balances established after the 2011 revolution.
Saied claims his actions were necessary to save Tunisia from years of political paralysis and corruption. He maintains that the judiciary is independent and that those arrested are not political prisoners but criminals who threatened the state. However, his critics see a clear and methodical return to autocracy, a chilling echo of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime that was overthrown by popular protest.
A Defining Moment for Tunisia‘s Future
The current hunger strike is more than just a campaign to free one man. It represents a critical moment for Tunisia‘s fractured opposition. By rallying around a single, powerful cause, they are attempting to galvanize public opinion and present a more unified front against Saied’s consolidation of power.
The world watches as the cradle of the Arab Spring fights to prevent its democratic flame from being extinguished. The health and fate of Jawhar Ben Mbarek and his fellow hunger strikers now hang in the balance, a stark and human symbol of Tunisia‘s struggle for its future.
