page_title: Tunisian Revolution
section_title: Initial impact of Ben Ali's overthrow
hierarchical_section_title: Tunisian Revolution / Initial impact of Ben Ali's overthrow
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Char M60 devant la cathedrale au centre ville de Tunis suite à la révolution des jasmins English: M60 tank in front of the Cathedral of Tunis, during the Jasmine Revolution
context_page_description: The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. It eventually led to a thorough democratisation of the country and to free and democratic elections.
  The demonstrations were caused by high unemployment, food inflation, corruption, a lack of political freedoms and poor living conditions. The protests constituted the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades and resulted in scores of deaths and injuries, most of which were the result of action by police and security forces.
  The protests were sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on 17 December 2010. They led to the ousting of Ben Ali on 14 January 2011, when he officially resigned after fleeing to Saudi Arabia, ending his 23 years in power. Labor unions were an integral part of the protests.
context_section_description: Following Ben Ali's departure from the country, a state of emergency was declared. Army Commander Rashid Ammar pledged to "protect the revolution". Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi then briefly took over as acting president. On the morning of 15 January, Tunisian state TV announced that Ben Ali had officially resigned his position and Ghannouchi had handed over the presidency to parliamentary speaker Fouad Mebazaa, with Ghannouchi returning to his previous position as prime minister. This was done after the head of Tunisia's Constitutional Court, Fethi Abdennadher, declared that Ghannouchi did not have right to power, and confirmed Fouad Mebazaa as acting President under Article 57 of the constitution. Mebazaa was given 60 days to organise new elections. Mebazaa said it was in the country's best interest to form a national unity government.
  INTERPOL confirmed that its National Central Bureau (NCB) in Tunis had issued a global alert to find and arrest Ben Ali and six of his relatives.
  A commission to reform the constitution and law in general was set up under Yadh Ben Achour. There were also calls by the opposition to delay the elections, holding them in six or seven months with international supervision.
  Following Ben Ali's departure, violence and looting continued and the capital's main train station was torched. The national army was reported to be extensively deployed in Tunisia, including elements loyal to Ben Ali.
  A prison director in Mahdia freed about 1,000 inmates following a prison rebellion that left 5 people dead. Many other prisons also had jailbreaks or raids from external groups to force prisoner releases, some suspected to be aided by prison guards. Residents who were running out of necessary food supplies had armed themselves and barricaded their homes, and in some cases had formed armed neighborhood watches. Al Jazeera's correspondent said there were apparently three different armed groups: the police (numbering 250,000), security forces from the Interior Ministry, and irregular militias supportive of Ben Ali who were vying for control.
  Ali Seriati, head of presidential security, was arrested and accused of threatening state security by fomenting violence. Following this, gun battles took place near the Presidential Palace between the Tunisian army and elements of security organs loyal to the former regime. The Tunisian army was reportedly struggling to assert control. Gunfire continued in Tunis and Carthage as security services struggled to maintain law and order.
  The most immediate result of the protests was seen in increased Internet freedoms. While commentators were divided about the extent to which the Internet contributed to the ousting of Ben Ali, Facebook remained accessible to roughly 20% of the population throughout the crisis whilst its passwords were hacked by a country-wide man-in-the-middle attack. YouTube and DailyMotion became available after Ben Ali's ouster, and the Tor anonymity network reported a surge of traffic from Tunisia.
caption: A Tunisian army tank deployed in front of the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul in Tunis
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