Tunisia violence continues as PM's party rejects change of government

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/07/tunisia-violence-ennahda-party-split

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Tunisia's Islamists have rejected a plan by their party chief and prime minister to change the government after unrest erupted over the killing of an opposition leader, deepening the country's worst crisis since the revolution in 2011.

Police fired teargas to disperse renewed demonstrators near the interior ministry in Tunis and stone-throwing youths in the southern town of Gafsa.

Union leaders are planning a general strike on Friday, which could also be the day of assassinated secular politician Chokri Belaid's funeral, prompting fears of further violence.

France, the former colonial power in Tunisia, will close its schools in Tunis on Friday and Saturday over fears of further bloodshed, according to the French embassy.

The prime minister, Hamdi Jebali, of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, announced late on Wednesday he would replace his government with a non-partisan cabinet until elections could be held, as soon as possible.

But a senior Ennahda official said Jebali had not sought approval from his party, suggesting the Islamist group was split over the move to replace the governing coalition.

"The prime minister did not ask the opinion of his party," said Abdelhamid Jelassi, Ennahda's vice-president. "We in Ennahda believe Tunisia needs a political government now. We will continue discussions with other parties about forming a coalition government."

Tunisia's main opposition parties also rejected any move to a government of experts and demanded they be consulted before any new cabinet is formed.

Political analysts said protracted deadlock could aggravate the unrest, which has underscored the chasm between Islamists and secular groups who fear that freedoms of expression, cultural liberty and women's rights are in jeopardy just two years after the western-backed dictatorship crumbled in the first uprising of the Arab Spring.

Belaid was shot as he left home for work on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on the back of a motorcycle. Thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country, hurling rocks and fighting police, in echoes of violence in Egypt last month.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing. But a crowd set fire to the Tunis headquarters of Ennahda, which won the most seats in a free election 16 months ago, despite Jebali saying the party had nothing to do with it.

Protests also hit Sidi Bouzid, fount of the Jasmine Revolution that ousted dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

While Belaid had only a modest political following, his sharp criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.

Mehrzia Abidi, vice-president of the interim parliament that has been struggling for months to draft a new post-Ben Ali constitution, said it would discuss Jebali's proposal for temporary technocratic government on Thursday.

Sadok Belaid, a constitutional law expert, said the assembly would have to approve the cabinet overhaul. But the assembly's dysfunctional record raised the threat of drawn-out instability.

Political analyst Salem Labyed said the opposition appeared to want to leverage the crisis to its own advantage.

"It seems that the opposition wants to secure the maximum possible political gains but the fear is that the ... crisis will deepen if things remain unclear at the political level. That could increase the anger of supporters of the secular opposition, which may go back to the streets again," he said.

Many Tunisians complain that radical Salafi Islamists could hijack their democratic revolution, fearing Ennahda is coming increasingly under their sway.

Nervous about the extent of hardline Islamist influence and the volatility of the political impasse, global powers urged Tunisians to see through a non-violent shift to democracy.

"The revolution at the beginning was a fight for dignity and freedom, but violence is taking over," said the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius. "I want to offer France's support to those who want to end the violence. We cannot let closed-mindedness and violence take over," he said on BFM-TV.

But discontent has smouldered for some time, not only over secularist-Islamist issues but also over the lack of progress towards better living standards expected after Ben Ali's exit.

In a reflection of investor fears about the crisis, the cost of insuring Tunisian government bonds against default rose to their highest level in more than four years on Thursday. Lacking the huge oil and gas resources of neighbours Libya and Algeria, Tunisia counts tourism as a crucial currency earner, and further turmoil could deter visitors.