1) In a fascinating turn of events Tunisian #Islamist party #Nahdha & reborn former regime party #FreeDestour party led by #AbirMoussi r both supporting Security Forces in what they consider attacks (some paint was thrown & middle fingers raised by peaceful protesters) on police

2) who were in full riot gear, preventing protesters from reaching the Ministry of Interior during a march against police violence & Tunisia’s harsh drug law 52 (21 yr old killed with a tear gas canister to the head & 2 young men for 30years for smoking hash in an empty stadium)

3) Some speculate orders for police to stand still in formation & not attack protesters w/customary level of violence came frm PM Mechichi (acting Minister of Interior)
We barely had enough time to process that the police were relatively restrained when syndicates began reacting

4) Since then security officers began attacking people they think participated in the protest w/extreme verbal abuse on private messages & Facebook comments. One person has had her phone # made public and has been receiving abusive calls & even a 3AM visit w/door banging at home

5) clearly the importance of not reacting abusively to the protest was not communicated well to the officer on the street, leading to pent up rage and now violent reactions online as well as a series of protest actions police syndicates/unions have announced including:

6) for 3 days:
-no longer securing cultural &sport events
-limiting themselves to “security work” & ceasing all administrative work (issuing ID cards,passports etc)
-not processing speeding & traffic related tickets
-demanding the firing of those involved in “stand down”decision

7) the fascinating impact of both Nahdha and former regime surrogate party standing in favor of police in these events is the rise of new discourse from police syndicates and unions which (as a close observer of police union and syndicate communication) I’ve never heard before.

8) In this clip of a police syndicate protest held in Sfax today we can hear the speaker angrily challenging a) “the corrupt left”, b)the 0.% people (a phrase used by Islamists to describe the progressive parties that don’t do well in elections) c)the atheists, d)the socialists

9)Targeting left/socialists (& atheists ?) is very intriguing
It’s a nice mix of what both Nahdha & the new RCD consider unpleasant
In addition to this discourse,syndical action (strange for ppl who don’t like the left), & online attacks there seem to be arrests taking place

10) in that video you can also hear police chanting against PM Mechichi (who had praised for their professionalism even as footage of officers aiming tear gas canisters into people’s homes, being violent with protesters & arresting children was shared widely.)

11) another thing to keep in mind is that the status of police syndicates in Tunisia is fascinating. Before the uprising they did not have the right to unionize. Almost as soon as the revolutionary activities died down slightly in 2011, this was security forces’ first demand

12) And while unions can hold strikes normally the Tunisian law still prohibits specific sectors from striking:
Article 36 of the Constitution completely prohibits strikes from Internal Security Forces and Customs. This is why they’ve been careful to not use the word strike!

13) However, there is a legal text that makes even the unions’ carefully selected protest actions untenable:
Article11, Decree No42 prohibits internal security personnel & their unions to strike, disrupt the course of work or call for it [...]

14) In some police unions’ public statements they even decided (as unions which make no sense in the security context where there r clear decision-making protocols) to “apply the law during the coming protests & not allow unlicensed protests to occur”
R the unions going rogue?

15) given that Prime Minister is acting Minister of Interior & that the President of the Republic is a constitutional law expert , you’d think at least one of them will come out with some response to the shocking behavior / statements form the unions. If not, it’s looking bleak.