SOLDIERS FIRED shots into the air in Tunis yesterday as more than 1,000 protesters demanded that ministers from deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s party leave the government.
The demonstrators, who gathered at the headquarters of the RCD party on Avenue Mohamed V, waved Tunisian flags and sang the national anthem as troops fired warning shots to keep them back from the huge building’s perimeter fence. Similar protests took place in other Tunisian cities.
As prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi continued his efforts to placate opposition figures who resigned from the unity coalition this week over the retention of RCD members in key ministries, it was announced that the party’s central committee had been dissolved. All RCD ministers had earlier taken the prime minister’s lead and left the party.
The new cabinet, which is charged with organising free elections within six months, held its first meeting yesterday, but four opposition figures who stepped down on Tuesday were absent. One of the government’s first decisions was to introduce an amnesty for the regime’s opponents, including those who went into exile to escape repression. This may allow for the return of Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi, who was sentenced to death in 1992.
Ministers also decided to grant recognition to all banned political groups.
Asked if the ban on the Islamist movement Ennahda would be lifted, youth minister Mohamed Aloulou said: “We will recognise all the political movements.” Acting president Fouad Mebazaa appeared on state television on Wednesday night, calling recent events a “revolution” and offering assurances that there would a “complete break with the past”.
Despite the series of gestures, protests continued against the presence of old regime figures in cabinet. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people reportedly gathered in the town of Gafsa, 350km south of Tunis, while state television said anti-government protests also took place in the towns of Kef and Sfax.
Protesters are sceptical about the prime minister’s claim of separation between Ben Ali’s regime and the RCD, and were angered by his admission on French television that he had been in telephone contact with Ben Ali this week to brief him on the situation in Tunisia.
Other supporters of the protest movement of recent weeks are willing to see RCD members remain in the interim cabinet in order to ensure a smooth transition. They fear removing the RCD politicians and replacing them with largely unknown opposition members could exacerbate the country’s instability.
Traffic increased again on the streets of Tunis yesterday amid signs that life was gradually returning to normal, but shootings and looting were reported in parts of the city and army helicopters again flew over the city last night. A state of emergency and a curfew remain in place.
Ben Ali, Tunisia’s authoritarian leader for 23 years, fled to Saudi Arabia last Friday after weeks of unrest across the country. Tunisian authorities say they have arrested 33 members of his extended family on suspicion of “crimes against Tunisia” and efforts to intercept the family’s wealth continue in many countries.
Ben Ali’s wife, Leila Trabelsi, and members of her family, are alleged by opponents of the regime to have controlled much of the economy through holdings including an airline, hotels, car distribution companies and real estate.
In Brussels, the EU said it could follow Switzerland’s lead and freeze Ben Ali’s assets. France, Tunisia’s former colonial ruler and a close ally of Ben Ali as president, has taken steps to block suspicious movements of Tunisian money.
The US said it hoped conditions in Tunisia would stabilise sufficiently for “credible elections” to take place later this year.
“As the people of Tunisia chart a different future, political and social stability are essential ingredients for credible elections,” a state department spokesman said.
Washington was ready to help the interim government in Tunis, but it “must create a genuine transition to democracy”, he added.