CAIRO: Tunisia's Speaker of the Parliament, Foued Mebazza, has taken over as interim President in the North African country. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi was initially announced to be in charge after President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country on Friday, but under the constitution Mebazza is in control. On Friday, January 14, Ben Ali dissolved the government, announced new legislative elections would be held in 6 months, promised not to run for re-election in 2014, and promised to create more jobs. Unemployment has been a major factor in the so-called revolution. The self-immolation of an unemployed college graduate named Mohamed Bouazizi in the town of Sidi Bouzid gave the revolution on of its nicknames as well as its Twitter hashtag (#sidibouzid). Ben Ali's attempt to appease the masses failed, and he fled the country later that night, eventually landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after being denied entry to France by President Nicolas Sarcozy. Ben Ali's daughter and son-in-law are reportedly holed up in a VIP suite at Disneyland Paris with an entourage of Tunisian bodyguards and Mercedes limousines. Ben Ali's flight from Tunisia came after a month of protests over unemployment and economic hardships. Police violence against protesters claimed the lives of 66 people, according to the International Federation of Human Rights. The government's figure was a mere 21. Reports mentioned that the Tunisian airspace has been closed by the army after a state of emergency had been declared and the government was dissolved. Curfew has been imposed and helicopters hover watchfully overhead. Tunisians around the world are holding their breath, wondering if Tunisia's “revolution” will bring the change they crave: sorting out the problem of unemployment, bringing human rights, freedom of speech, and maybe even democracy. But it is too soon to tell, even as analysts around the world give credit to Twitter or Wikileaks and speculate on which Arab dictator will be the next to fall. Tunisia has ousted one ruler, but the grass is not always greener on the other side and Tunisia's future remains uncertain. BM