Powerful #Tunisia <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Tunisia&src=hash> labor
union backs calls for new government. @UGTT_TN <https://twitter.com/UGTT_TN>
#TNac <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TNac&src=hash>
#TNgov<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TNgov&src=hash>
http://bit.ly/17RrYAP  <http://t.co/wWeBDw2AFO>



Tunisia UGTT union calls for peaceful marches, dismissal of govt and 15
days deadline 2 Constituent Assembly, but negotiates with bosses org

Tunisia: anti-govt protests continue, deal being hatched behind backs of
masses, a national salvation govt so that nothing changes
#brahmi<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23brahmi&src=hash>

Tunisia Sidi Bouzid governor removed by masses attempts to come back on a
national guard vehicle, expelled again RE https://twitter.com/noomanelet/sta
tus/362471765634592769 … <https://t.co/WSmtLtKNT3>


Tunisia VIDEO July 29 Union of Unemployed Graduates (UDC) leads take over
of Siliana regional government http://youtu.be/L5za_V8NLOs
<http://t.co/CzZFL4FBQo>
#brahmi <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23brahmi&src=hash>



The Second Tunisian
Revolution Is Underway
A man lights a flare outside the National Constituent Assembly headquarters
during a protest to demand the ouster of the Islamist-dominated government
in Tunis, July 28, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Anis Mili )

   -







By: *Raouf Ben Hédi* Translated from *Business News
(Tunisia)<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/about/sources/businessnews>
.*
LIRE L'ORIGINAL EN
FRANÇAIS<http://www.businessnews.com.tn/la-deuxieme-revolution-tunisienne-est-en-marche,519,39730,3>

Tens of thousands of people are roaming the streets of Tunisia from north
to south. More than 60 MPs have announced their withdrawal from the
National Constituent Assembly (NCA) and the police are repressing peaceful
protesters. As for the leaders in power, they are applying the motto, “Here
I am, here I remain.” Evidently, the components of a second revolution are
present.
About This Article
Summary :
Following the assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Mohammed Brahmi
on July 25, are Tunisians preparing for a second revolution to oust
Islamist rule?
Publisher: Business News
(Tunisia)<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/about/sources/businessnews>

Original Title:
The Second Tunisian Revolution Is Underway
Author: Raouf Ben Hédi
First Published: July 28, 2013
Posted on: July 30 2013
Translated by: Sami-Joe Abboud and Pascale Menassa
Categories :  Tunisia   <http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/countries/tunisia>

Here comes failure in an obvious manner, despite the denials of various
troika leaders, and despite the admissions of some of their leaders, like
former prime minister and current Secretary-General of Ennahda Hamadi
Jebali<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/02/tunisia-prime-minister-resigns-jebali.html>
and
Ennahda Vice President Abdelfattah Mourou.

After the assassination of Chokri Belaid, Jebali had actually admitted to
this failure before throwing in the towel following his failure to impose
on his political family the idea of a government of technocrats to settle
the current affairs until elections.

Ali Laarayedh and Noureddine Bhiri were named in his place, but they could
not appease the spirits for more than three months. It is true that the
national and international economic situation did not help much.

Yet the increased tension has been aggravated not only because of the
relative incompetence of the government, but also because of the NCA, which
seems to want to stand its ground forever by constantly creating problems
that delay elections.

Often, members of the Congress for the Republic (CPR) and Ennahda — which
constitute the ruling parties — stand behind these fabricated problems. The
most recent problems include the falsification of several texts by Islamist
Habib Kheder, general rapporteur of the constitution, not to mention the
transitional provisions that prevent appealing to any court for three years
to object to constitutional texts. Finally, there is the so-called law of
immunization of the revolution, aiming to dismiss certain resolute
political opponents from the next elections.

Having already lost its legal legitimacy since Oct. 22, 2012 — for it was
originally elected for a one-year term — the NCA has lost its moral
legitimacy as well.

On July 25, Republic Day, it also lost its political legitimacy with the
assassination of MP Mohammed
Brahmi<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/07/tunisia-opposition-activist-assassinated.html>.
This is the third political assassination since the Jasmine Revolution,
following the assassinations of Lotfi Nagdh and Belaid. Such killings were
never witnessed during the rule of former presidents Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali and Habib Bourguiba, who were described by the current rulers as
dictators.

Enough is enough. Tunisians immediately took to the streets to express
their anger and disapproval. In the cities of Kef, Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid and
Sfax, there were demands for the resignation of the NCA and the incompetent
government.

After Brahmi’s funeral, thousands gathered in front of NCA headquarters to
demand its dissolution. More than 60 MPs have already announced their
withdrawal from the assembly to join the protesters. They swear that they
will not leave the premises until finding a final solution to Tunisia's
political crisis. With the sit-in already in place and the tents erected,
the ruling party has enough reason to be enraged.

However, the rallies were repressed twice more on July 27 by security
forces that we no longer hesitate to name as a parallel police for the
Islamist Ennahda. Ennahda is suspected of creating militias to defend
itself against the angry crowds.

A counter-protest was organized and we saw known faces, notably at Bardo in
front of the NCA. There were thugs here and there, but there were also
protesters who had participated in old pro-government sit-ins, including
faces from Tunisian TV. Officially, they were there to defend the
“legitimacy” of the government and Islam.

Amid the pro-government protest, we could hear slogans and calls of the
leaders shouting, “Beware, those MPs who withdrew and the demonstrators who
want to bring down the government are enemies of Islam. They want to make
your religion vanish from the country. Look at how they are eating
and drinking openly, without caring about fasting [during the holy month of
Ramadan]. This is enough proof. Be careful, if you do not defend your
religion and your country, they will lock us all away in prisons.”

Those sentences were convincing enough to ignite the crowds and push them
into confrontations. Late at night, MP Sahbi Atig, who leads the Ennahda
bloc within the NCA, came to Bardo and incited the crowds once again. His
very presence on the scene was a provocation. In a normal democracy and in
a country that respects itself, he would be under arrest, given his calls
for murder hardly 15 days ago at a rally in support of ousted Egyptian
President
Mohammed 
Morsi<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/07/alaa-aswany-eygypt-religious-parties-morsi.html>
.

Ennahda’s violent reaction was predictable. The Islamist party was brought
up on violence, and its leaders have already been convicted of such acts.
The determination of the 60 MPs and thousands of democratic protesters
challenging the Islamist regime, however, will not be realized: The
government will fall and the Islamists will leave power after the
institutional coup that they are imposing on people.

In any democratic country, when thousands of protesters take to the streets
to express their anger, the government immediately resigns and organizes
early elections. We are repeating day and night that the current regime has
no legitimacy; its one-year term is over, its mission has failed and three
political leaders have been murdered under its term. The protest movement
has been active for several weeks. It accelerated on July 25, and the
democrats hope it reached its cruising speed on July 27, following the
police repression and presence of pro-regime militias.

All the ingredients of a peaceful uprising are present. The second Tunisian
revolution is well underway. For the moment, however, it does not seem to
resemble the second Egyptian revolution at all.


Read more:
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/07/tunisia-beginning-its-second-revolution.html#ixzz2acmUvdYC


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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