Tunisia’s body politic is in crisis

Reports and rumours about a decline in President Kais Saied’s health underscore the classic political concept that the physical state of a leader deeply affects a country’s “body politic”. For the first time since 2011, Tunisia seems to be experiencing a dual climate of national distress and political change.This concern is amplified by two factors working in tandem. One is the failure of public utilities: water and electricity cuts in sweltering summer conditions have created severe socioeconomic pressure that has spilled over into a broader climate of political dissent. The other is the undoing of the North African country’s fledgling democratisation.How do structural constraints and institutional rigidities form the foundation of Tunisia’s current crisis?The ‘July of discontent’Traditionally, January, one of Tunisia’s coldest months, has marked periods of high-stakes political shifts, student and worker protests, and civil rights marches. The January 1980 riots weakened Habib Bourguiba’s grip on power, while the January 2011 protests ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. That civic energy has now resurfaced in a “hot July”, amid intense summer heat, street mobilisation and he...