Pandemic-fueled populism stresses Tunisia’s fragile democracy

For Yasmine Harrazi, an unemployed administrative assistant in Tunis, the reason for her hardships is clear.

“The revolution was a mistake,” says Ms. Harrazi, reflecting on the 10th anniversary of Tunisia’s Dec. 17 democratic uprising against the dictatorship of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

“We staged the revolution because we didn’t have freedom of expression. Now we can speak, but we can’t cover the cost of food – the revolution failed.”

A polarized society unable to agree on shared facts, an outsider populist dominating the media cycle by breaking norms and scapegoating the “other,” widespread anger over inequality and distrust in the political establishment – the trappings of populism are now familiar across the world.

Such developments are particularly worrying in the Arab world’s lone democracy, Tunisia, still emerging from a fragile post-revolution