Revolution and Youth Day in 2024

When is Revolution and Youth Day?

Revolution and Youth Day is a national holiday in Tunisia on December 17th h each year. Until 2021, this holiday was observed on January 14th.

This holiday marks the start of the Tunisian Revolution that ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

History of Revolution and Youth Day

After Tunisia gained independence from France in spring 1956, Habib Bourguiba became Prime Minister and then President when Tunisia became a republic in 1957.  He ruled for 30 years until November 1987, when doctors declared him unfit to rule and, in a bloodless coup d'état, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumed the presidency.

In December 2010, Tunisians began mass protests against unemployment and Ben Ali's corruption, as part of the so-called Arab Spring. The protests became known as the Tunisian Revolution or the Jasmine Revolution

After almost a month of protests, Ben Ali declared a nationwide state of emergency and dissolved the government on January 14th 2011, promising new elections within six months. That wasn't to be, as later that same day Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state television to say he was assuming power in Tunisia and said that the President had fled the country. 

Beli Ali passed away in Saudi Arabia in September 2019.

In 2019, President Kais Saied visited Sidi Bouzid. This was where the protests erupted on December 17th 2010, after a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself alight to protest against police harassment. During the visit, the president announced that December 17th will henceforth be a national holiday to mark the start of the uprising.

The presidential decree declaring December 17th a public holiday instead of January 14th was published in the Official Gazette of the Tunisian Republic (JORT) on Monday December 17th 2021.

In a statement, the Presidency of the Republic announced that President Kais Saied has decided to make December 17th a holiday instead of January 14th to celebrate the Revolution anniversary.

A presidential decree was issued to amend the decree governing holidays in Tunisia.