Hundreds of people protested in the center of Tunis yesterday, calling for the government to resign and for the abolition of the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), the ruling party under the former authoritarian regime.
“Ben Ali has gone to Saudi Arabia! The government should go there too,” more than 1,000 protesters chanted, referring to former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who resigned abruptly and fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday after 23 years of iron-fisted rule.
Some of the 400 protesters waved placards reading: “Down with the RCD!”
Photo: EPA
“We want a new parliament, a new constituion, a new republic! People rise up,” they chanted.
Riot police stood guard at the demonstration on Avenue Bourguiba —- the scene of a mass protest by thousands of people on Friday that led to Ben Ali’s ouster and far smaller demostrations on Tuesday that were broken up by police.
Meanwhile, the national unity Cabinet was due to hold its first meeting either yesterday or today, with the caretaker prime minister under pressure from opposition leaders who demanded he fire more of the ousted president’s allies.
An opposition source said the priorities at the Cabinet meeting would be to draw up a national amnesty law for victims of the former regime, as well as concrete moves to break up the RCD’s stranglehold on organs of state.
Four opponents of Ben Ali quit the government within a day of being appointed, saying street protesters who triggered the upheaval were disappointed at how many of the old guard, including Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, were still in power.
The tree-lined Avenue Bourguiba, in the center of the capital, was re-opened to traffic for the first time in several days. The street was the scenes of clashes on Tuesday between protesters demanding the removal of Ben Ali’s RCD from power, and police using tear gas.
Tunis residents said the streets were quiet overnight, with no reports of shooting or looting.
Abid al-Briki of the UGTT trade union, whose three ministerial nominees all resigned, said it still wanted to see all ministers from Ben Ali’s team cleared out, though it would make an exception for Ghannouchi.
“This is in response to the demands of people on the streets,” Briki said.
Trying to defuse the row, Ghannouchi and caretaker President Fouad Mebazza quit the RCD.
One of the new ministers who resigned, Mustafa Ben Jaafar, indicated that move might be enough to tempt him back.
However, the UGTT responded that while their ditching of old party cards was positive, it was not sufficient. Ghannouchi said some ministers were kept on because they were needed in the run-up to elections, expected in the next two months.
Ministers in the coalition government took the oath of office in a ceremony on Tuesday evening, said Ahmed Najib Chebbi, an opposition party leader and minister in the government.
In an indication of the new government’s desire to break with the past, the RCD canceled the party membership of Ben Ali, former presidential advisor Abd Elwahab Abdallah, Ben Ali’s son-in-law Sakher Materi and brother-in-law Belhassen Trebelsi, state TV reported.
The government says at least 78 people were killed in the unrest and the cost in damage and lost business was estimated at US$2 billion.
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