tran·si·tion

The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.

The word transition has to be one of the most used words  in today’s media.  From the economy to politics, the one word that best describes the period we’re going through is transition.  As the world congratulated Tunisia for a job well done, the challenge of staying updated became more and more difficult. The news alone is hard enough to keep up with, but when you add rumors, local events, and every day life; it can get pretty overwhelming.

From Al Jazeera to Tunisia Live, CNN to BBC, the media has focused heavily on Tunisia over the last few days and as a result there is a lot of information (and misinformation) out for us to consume.

10-Day Outlook

It will be very interesting to see what happens over the next 10 days. Ennahda party officials have announced that within this time period, “Tunisia will have a coalition government in place.”  Each day will provide us with more clues as to how smooth or problematic this transition will be.  The 10-days will also give us a snapshot at the new security layout and the general direction of the country.

Key Dates to keep in mind:

• Friday, November 4th:  The Friday prayers before the big Eid, usually draws higher than usual attendees to the mosques.  This could play a factor depending on the way things go during the week.
• Sunday, November 6-7  Eid Al Idha
• Monday, November 7th:  Many factors such as the link this date had with the old regime and the fact that it will mark the 10-day cycle; make it worth monitoring.

On the radar

Blancos, a very popular beach side bar and lounge located in Gammarth, has been permanently shutdown by Tunisian authorities.  According to several sources, the authorities showed up on Friday night to enforce an ordinance that prevents any establishment located near the beach from selling alcohol after 11pm.

We also detected more road side checks in and around the greater La Marsa area and higher sense of alertness among police officers. The period of change is well underway, let’s hope the change will continue to be for the better.

Tunisia Security Update

At the Tunisia Security Update we are going to continue to focus on security issues effecting the La Marsa, Carthage, Laouina, and Gammarth areas.