Zine El Abidine Ben Ali favoured the latter. In conformity with Article 57 of the Tunisian Constitution, the peaceful transition occurred. The country had faced 10% inflation, external debt accounting for 46% of GDP and a debt service ratio of 21% of GDP. In 1999 Fulvio Martini, former head of Italian military secret service SISMI, declared to a parliamentary committee that "In 1985–1987 we organized a kind of "golpe" in Tunisia, putting president Ben Ali as head of state, replacing Burghiba (the Italian spelling of the name) who wanted to flee". Bourguiba, although a symbol of anti-colonial resistance, was considered incapable of leading his country
Timeline of the Yemeni Revolution (January – 2 June 2011) Yemenis protested in Sana'a's streets since mid-January 2011 to demand a change in government, though the protests in the south of the country were more aggressive. The protests "appeared to be the first large-scale challenge" to Saleh's rule; protesters compared him to the ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, citing government corruption and the poor economy of Yemen. Protests occurred in many towns in both the north and south of Yemen initially against Yemeni governmental proposals to modify Yemen's constitution, rejecting the proposals as insufficient, and over unemployment and economic conditions. Protests on 20 January included thousands of