Tunisia: The self-emulation of Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi sparks the Jasmin Revolution

Twenty-six-year-old street vendor, Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself alight after local Tunisian police confiscated his wheelbarrow full of fresh produce and publically humiliated him. Bouazizi, in his frustration with the lack of opportunity in the state under then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year presidency, died in Ben Arous 14 days later. Bouazizi’s death, however, acted as a trigger for sparks the Jasmin Revolution during which Ben Ali steps down as president in the face of mass uprisings across the country. The Tunisian Jasmin Revolution spreads into neighbouring countries with uprisings in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and influenced the Sudanese succession.