Replacement of Tunisia PM fails to end protests

Protesters camped outside government offices in Tunis are still not satisfied, demand more change.

Middle East Online

By Taieb Mahjoub - TUNIS

Not satisfied yet Tunisia's replacement of its prime minister after weeks of protests failed to quell criticism of the interim government as the opposition Monday pressed on with demands for more change. Mohammed Ghannouchi quit Sunday after clashes between security forces and protesters left five people dead at the weekend in demonstrations against his government, set up after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Protesters camped outside government offices in Tunis for 10 days, for whom Ghannouchi's departure had been a key demand because of his links with Ben Ali's regime, said they were still not satisfied. "We will continue our sit-in until the formation of a constituent assembly and the recognition of the Council for the Protection of the Revolution," said protest coordinator Mohamed Fadhel. Demonstrators are wary the weeks-long uprising that ended Ben Ali's 23 years in power, and triggered revolts elsewhere in the Arab world, could be hijacked by members of the old regime still in positions of authority. They have also demanded the establishment of a parliamentary system. The interim government has meanwhile pledged elections by mid-July. The influential Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), which played a key part in the toppling of the previous regime, criticised the rapid appointment of Beji Caed Essebsi, 84, as new prime minister without consultation. "It was a surprise," union deputy secretary general Ali Ben Romdhane told AFP. "How can we secure the agreements that are wished for to bring Tunisia out of a difficult situation when the president does not give at least 24 hours for consultations about the designation of a prime minister," he asked. Leading opposition figure Rached Ghannouchi, president of the influential Islamist movement Ennahdha, said: "The government of Ben Ali has gone, it must be replaced by one of the people." "The next government must include the Council for the Protection of the Revolution," he said. The city centre was still tense Monday after violence erupted on Friday and continued through the weekend, when security forces fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse rampaging protesters. The interior ministry said five people were killed in the clashes. Security forces tried to push back a group of young people armed with knives and stones who tried to storm the interior ministry headquarters, it said Sunday. Sixteen security officers were also wounded when stones and other objects were hurled at them, it said in a statement. Military reinforcements were deployed close to the interior ministry Monday as shops and pavement cafes in the centre of the capital remained closed in the morning. Witnesses said that shops in the main commercial centre were looted and a supermarket set on fire at the weekend. About 2,000 people demonstrated Sunday to show support for the outgoing prime minister, participants said. Ghannouchi "finishes his run with a gesture of clarity that honours him by recognising that he is not the man for the situation," the government's La Presse newspaper said Monday. But the independent Tunis-hebdo warned that "the way things are going, there is a big risk of the transition being compromised, put in danger by the blatant slowness and clumsiness of a government anchored in old reflexes and by a cabal of unreliable politicians who are riding the hobby horse of the revolution less to serve than to serve themselves."