The **2018 Tunisian Protests** were a series of protests occurring
throughout [Tunisia](Tunisia "wikilink") in January and February of
[2018](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Northern_Africa "wikilink")
over the high cost of living and taxes. It was the first event of the
ongoing [Second Arab Spring](Second_Arab_Spring "wikilink").

## Background

After the [2011 Revolution](Tunisian_Revolution "wikilink"), Tunisia was
widely seen as the only democratic success story in the [Arab
Spring.](Arab_Spring "wikilink") However, the country has subsequently
had nine governments, none of which were able to tackle the country's
growing economic problems. On the 1st of January, 2018, the government
raised taxes on petrol, phones, housing, internet usage, food and
makeup. Several leftist political parties announced the organisations of
protests on January 14th, the anniversary of the revolution.

## Events

What actually happened during the protests is unclear besides the
burning down of a regional national security headquarters near the
[Algerian](Algeria "wikilink") border, 50 police were injured, 237
people were arrested and 2,100 soldiers were deployed to protect key
institutions.

## Results

The protests led to a repeal of the new taxes and the blaming of the
protests on [anarchists](Anarchism "wikilink").

## References

[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") - [2018 Tunisian
protests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Tunisian_protests)