Tunisians are voting in an election critics say could cement a return to autocracy

Central Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, where, over a decade ago, a fruit vendor set himself on fire and set off a wave of Arab uprisings. (Claire Harbage/NPR)

SIDI BOUZID, TUNISIA — It was in the center of this city in central Tunisia that a wave of Arab uprisings was set off with one desperate act.

A fruit vendor, angry after police harassed him and confiscated his street cart and produce, set himself on fire in the middle of traffic just in front of the governor's office. Mohamed Bouazizi's despair resonated and triggered a revolution that led to the overthrow of an autocrat. As the story goes, before he doused himself in gasoline he asked "how do you expect me to make a living?"