Tunisian activists ready to walk the walk

A group of young Tunisian civil society activists announced Dec. 8 that they are planning to take to the streets in protest against what they call the government's failure to manage the economic and social crises. They launched a campaign on Facebook titled “Gilet Rouge” (French for "Red Vest") and said they are working on opening coordination offices across Tunisia.

Riad Jarad, the general coordinator of the campaign, told Al-Monitor that the Red Vest campaign is an independent youth movement that is open to all Tunisians regardless of their political or intellectual affiliations.

He said that the color red has been adopted instead of yellow, which is used in France, because the economic situation in Tunisia has hit dangerous levels. He noted that 51 coordination offices would be opened across Tunisia this week in a bid to organize protests and avert any chaotic scenarios.

An online Yellow Vest campaign was launched by French protesters in May to protest the increase in fuel taxes. After the campaign in December turned into bloody confrontations between French security forces and protesters in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron announced in a speech Dec. 10 that he would back down on the tax increase starting in 2019.