Zawaya

Beyond social unrest, the Maghreb is in political crisis

By: Nabila Saidoune

Aimless waiting has ultimately led to rebellion. Maghreb countries – especially Tunisia and Algeria – that are racked with popular anger reveal deep social unrest amid political crisis.

Tunisia and Algeria, and even Morocco, have many things in common. Their economies are unable to provide any opportunities for young people – graduates, for the most part – who enter the labor market.

Unemployment, housing problems, and the high cost of living are all factors that often incite this social category to violently react against this insecurity. Young people are increasingly drawn to the idea of seeking hope in other climes at any cost, even by risking their own lives.

According to a prestigious American survey company, at least 37% of Tunisian and Moroccan youth, and 32% of Algerian youth, want to leave their country. These indicators lie at the root of these troubles whose size is sometimes hard to identify, but whose causes are obvious.

With the deliquescence of political relations, the crisis of representativeness and the disarticulation between the State and civil society, young people resort to violence as their only means of expression despite all ensuing consequences.

Determining the entailing consequences of the recent events is a challenging task, given the many unknown variables that undermine the equation.

Can we venture to say that this popular disenchantment is a significant uproar over the socio-economic marginalization? Each Maghreb State must absolutely introduce a genuine political alternative, accompanied with radical changes at many levels, while taking into account the aspirations of their citizens.

This realization should inevitably include adopting a new recruitment mode with greater equity in terms of wealth distribution, and allowing expression spaces where people will have the right to mediation through labor unions.

Moreover, it is time to seriously consider the Maghreb Union, while excluding all partisan second-thoughts; this could remarkably boost local economies, especially in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.