When is Revolution and Youth Day?
Revolution and Youth Day is a national holiday in Tunisia on January 14th each year.
This holiday marks the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on this day in 2011.
History of Revolution and Youth Day
After Tunisia gained independence from France in spring 1956, Habib Bourguiba became Prime Minister and then President when Tunisia became a republic in 1957. He ruled for 30 years until November 1987, when doctors declared him unfit to rule and, in a bloodless coup d'état, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumed the presidency.
In December 2010, Tunisians began mass protests against unemployment and Ben Ali's corruption, as part of the so-called Arab Spring. The protests became known as the Tunisian Revolution or the Jasmine Revolution
After almost a month of protests, Ben Ali declared a nationwide state of emergency and dissolved the government on January 14th 2011, promising new elections within six months. That wasn't to be, as later that same day Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state television to say he was assuming power in Tunisia and said that the President had fled the country.
Beli Ali passed away in Saudi Arabia in September 2019.
In 2019, President Kais Saied visited Sidi Bouzid. This was where the protests erupted on December 17th 2010, after a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself alight to protest against police harassment. During the visit, the president announced that December 17th will henceforth be a national holiday to mark the start of the uprising.
