Habib Bourguiba Statue in Tunis

After 30 years since the statue of Tunisia’s first president Habib Bourguiba was removed, it returned to central Tunis in June 2016. The return of the statue was intended to be a grand gesture of patriotism, around which all Tunisian’s could unite. It became clear, however, that the move was a divisive one: whilst serving as a patriotic reminder of Tunisia’s trail-blazing modernisation in the mid 20th century, it attracted criticism based on Bourguiba’s controversial authoritarian rule and what statement its return made about the future of post-revolutionary Tunisia