Ikbis is an Arabic word that means ‘press’.  About five thousand Tunisians took to the streets last week chanting the motto Ikbis. The protest organizers said they were lobbying for the acceleration of anti-corruption.

Having been launched many weeks ago, the Ikbis campaign, which reached its peak last Friday at Kasbah Square near the government’s headquarters in Tunis, is short for ‘lobbying the government to achieve the revolution’s aims’. But there are many details behind the campaign’s short title.

Ikbis is an Arabic word that means ‘press’.  About five thousand Tunisians took to the streets last week chanting the motto Ikbis. The protest organizers said they were lobbying for the acceleration of anti-corruption.

Having been launched many weeks ago, the Ikbis campaign, which reached its peak last Friday at Kasbah Square near the government’s headquarters in Tunis, is short for ‘lobbying the government to achieve the revolution’s aims’. But there are many details behind the campaign’s short title.

The campaign, whose organizers have been keen to declare in every possible occasion, that they are independents, has gathered followers in the thousands in different parts of Tunisia, possibly following the example of the Kasbah 1 and 2 sit-ins – held by the revolution’s youth from different Tunisian areas, demanding formation of a National Constituent Assembly (NCA) after forming the first post-revolution government.  

Led by a prominent leader of the ruling Ennahda Party, Habib Ellouz, and the prime minister’s political counselor, Lotfi Zitoun, the participants raised mottos demanding purification, activation of amnesties and prevention of the Ralliers – members of the dissolved Constitutional Democratic Rally – from practicing politics.

The Ennahda Party leaders and government officials are at the forefront of this campaign, whose mottos and demands are supported by the NCA ruling party, and that media and media persons are attacked in the same way the government officials do, suggest that the campaign is not independent and is, according to many observers and political activists, just another episode in the series of protecting the temporary government from criticism.  

The campaign comes amid increasing criticisms against the government’s performance, especially its criticized dealings with development, corruption and security. Probably the most symbolic of these criticisms is two statements made by the interim president himself on two different occasions, warning of a second revolution, and alluding to the Ennahda Movement’s hegemony over the state’s positions.

The government tried on more than one occasion to justify its sluggish performance, citing many reasons including: the ‘counter-revolution’, the opposition’s confusing efforts and the heavy legacy of the toppled regime and the former government (formed by Beji Caid el Sebsi).

It appears that the Tunisian street doesn’t believe these justifications. The underprivileged in more remote areas have never stopped protesting and denounce the accusations that their protests are counter-revolutionary acts.

These factors are real pressure elements on the government, and the approaching election date on October 23^th.  Many parties consider it the expiration date of the current legitimate and democratically elected government, according to the decree that regulated the NCA elections on 23 October 2011.

Until now, the campaign’s successes have yet to be seen, apart from the sit-in last Friday, but another Ikbis-type campaign, namely the one led by the unemployed, the underprivileged in remote areas, and the poor in the ghettos, where the revolution was founded, continues.