Tunisian Townspeople Take Running Town into Own Hands

February 26, 2011

Tunisian people stand at the seaside in coastal town Zarzis in southeastern Tunisia, February 18, 2011

The Zarzis Youth Association is packed with people. Local residents are making sandwiches and salads for their guests - hundreds of Egyptian workers who fled the violence in Libya and crossed Tunisia's border, about 65 kilometers away.

How they got here is one example of grassroots democracy slowly taking root in this country, a month after anti-government protesters forced former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power. Zarzis teacher Mohamed Jelouali explains how the town's residents - and not Tunisia's caretaker government - arranged for the Egyptians to be bussed here and for their food and shelter.

Jelouali says Tunisia's government was totally absent in this effort to help the Egyptians. In fact, the government is pretty much absent in this town altogether.

Like elsewhere in the country, Zarzis was awash in anti-government protests in January. After Mr. Ben Ali fled, residents here elected a 30-member popular committee to represent them. Jelouali is part of the committee.

He says the committee tries to solve the town's daily problems. The state still pays civil servant salaries, but the residents have fired all the local authorities except for the mayor.

Resident Ali Darrak gives the popular committee good reviews. Darrak says residents think the committee is doing a good job managing the situation in Zarzis.