Two years on since 'Arab Spring' and Tunisia is still in turmoil Protesters threw stones and tomatoes at Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki in Sidi Bouzid, where the revolution started two years ago. The Ennahda Movement accused the opposition of disrupting the celebrations. Activist Khaled Awanaah told Arabstoday: “There are two confronting groups in the city: those who want to celebrate the “great achievements” of the revolution, and those who think that the revolution did not change anything.”
Protesters started throwing projectiles at the President as he finished his speech, on the first anniversary of the revolution.
The security forces swiftly evacuated the two men to the regional government headquarters.
The protesters invaded the square where the head of state had been addressing the crowd, shouting "the people want the fall of the government."
The police held back, after violent clashes over the past few months, which have often followed attempts to disperse protesters angry over the Islamist-led government's failure to improve living conditions in the poor region.
Clashes and strikes, as well as attacks by hardline Islamists, have multiplied across Tunisia in the run-up to the second anniversary of the start of Tunisia's revolution.
When the president took to the podium on Monday, many in the crowd of around 5,000 started shouting "Get out! Get out!" -- one of the rallying cries of the revolution that toppled the regime of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Marzouki promised economic progress within six months to the people of Sidi Bouzid, where poverty and unemployment were key factors behind the uprising that began there on December 17, 2010, after a street vendor set himself on fire in protest at police harassment.
"I understand this legitimate anger. But the government has diagnosed the problem. In six months, a stable government will be in place and will provide the remedy to heal the country's problems," said the president, who was jeered by the crowd.
"For the first time, we have a government which is not stealing from the people," he said.
Marzouki had been heckled earlier in the morning, when he visited the grave of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young fruit and vegetable seller whose act of desperation set off the Arab Spring.