http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1032/re11.htm
20 - 26 January 2011
Issue No. 1032
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Days that shook the Arab world
Clashes broke out in central Tunis on Tuesday demanding that the new interim
cabinet be purged of the old guard that served Bin Ali (photo: AP) This week's
formation of an interim national-unity government in Tunisia was supposed to
mark the country's political transition, but events on the ground show that
many uncertainties remain, writes Samar Negida in Tunis
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Click to view caption
Clashes broke out in central Tunis on Tuesday demanding that the new
interim cabinet be purged of the old guard that served Bin Ali
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>From the very beginning, and particularly after the flight of former president
>Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali last weekend, Tunisians have been saying loud and
>clear that they do not want to see any survivors of the former regime in the
>country's transitional government, which should contain no traces of the
>country's former ruling party, the Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique
>(RCD).
However, these demands seemed to have fallen on deaf ears earlier this week,
when the country's acting prime minister, Mohamed Al-Ghanoushi, announced a new
government containing a majority of politicians from the former ruling RCD.
At the news of the announcement on Monday, fresh protests broke out in the
streets, if anything fiercer than ever, raising doubts about a stable
transition to a democratic government. Some opposition leaders have expressed
fears that should the interim national-unity government collapse, this could
trigger a military takeover.
Only hours after Al-Ghanoushi's announcement of the new government, four
opposition ministers had resigned in protest at the continuing domination of
the RCD, while a fifth was considering following suit. Their demand was that
key posts should not be occupied by associates of former president Bin Ali.
Anouar Bin Gueddour, transport minister, Houssine Dimassi, labour minister,
Abdel-Jelil Bedoui, minister without portfolio and Mustafa Bin Jaafar, health
minister, all resigned, while Moufida Tlatli, culture minister, said she was
considering doing so. In an attempt to salvage the government, the country's
interim president, Fouad Mebazaa, and acting prime minister Mohamed
Al-Ghanoushi both resigned from the RCD.
The interim national-unity government announced on Monday contained 19
ministers, six from the RCD, three from the country's major opposition parties,
and the rest from various other already existing trends or movements. The three
main opposition figures were Mustafa Bin Jaafar, Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, minister
of local development, and Ahmed Brahim, who ran for the presidency in the last
elections against the former president, as minister of higher education.
Leading figures from the former regime included in the new government included
Ahmed Friaa as minister of the interior, who announced in a press conference on
national television earlier this week that the toll from the demonstrations
that have swept the country over the past month had reached 78 people dead and
94 injured, many of the latter being police officers.
In his television address announcing the new government, Al-Ghanoushi asked all
Tunisians to cooperate with the police in order to help re-establish security
in the country, ending his speech with the words, "yes to freedom, yes to
democracy."
However, despite the formation of the new government, violence continued in
Tunisia earlier this week, with heavy gunfire taking place in Carthage, a
suburb of the capital Tunis, between the army and what were believed to be
units of the former presidential special forces holed up inside the
presidential palace. The shooting continued until late on Monday afternoon,
when the special forces surrendered.
Earlier in the day, protests had been taking place throughout Tunisia, notably
in the capital but also in other major cities, against the inclusion of members
of the RCD in the interim government.
At the same time, national television announced the death of a sniper belonging
to one of the militia groups fighting against the new government and the army
in Bizerte in the north of the country. Six Swedish nationals were released
after being caught by police with a rifle and accused of trying to destabilise
the country. The Swedes had been on their way to the airport, but had found
their flight cancelled because of the uncertain security situation in the
country.
Meanwhile, Tunisians have been trying to get back to their normal lives after
weeks of disruption, heading back to reopen businesses even as the country's
schools and universities remain closed with no date yet having been announced
for their reopening.
There have been warnings of shortages of basic staples, especially bread and
milk, but the governor of the country's central bank used a radio broadcast on
Tuesday to announce that Tunisia had sufficient reserves to last at least
another six months.
"I got my employees to the bakery myself by car last night, so we could start
working and give people something to eat in the morning," said Hamouda, the
owner of a bakery near Al-Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis.
Earlier, the army had announced that the curfew that has been in place in the
country's towns and cities over recent days was to be relaxed slightly, going
from six in the evening until five in the morning, in order to allow people to
get back to their normal lives.
While the situation in the country continues to get calmer, army tanks and
personnel are still on the capital's main streets. While security checkpoints
are also slowly beginning to disappear, they are still heavily concentrated
around Carthage and near public buildings.
Younger Tunisians in particular have been participating in efforts to ensure
security, with many of them forming groups to protect neighbourhoods and
belongings and coordinating with the military in moves to check attacks by
militias or looters.
"This revolution is the young people's revolution. They are the ones who did
it. Victory is theirs," commented Mohamed Bin Nasser, a 50-year-old school
teacher.
"This is a time when Tunisia needs its sons and daughters. We will keep on
serving the public, and we will fight whoever tries to take away our freedoms,"
said Loai, a 21-year-old university student living in the Lafayette
neighbourhood of the capital.
"I took part in the protests, and I was prepared to be shot if need be. I have
seen people giving their lives for this revolution, so I am not afraid of
cowards who want to take victory from us. I will keep on fighting for our
rights," said Emad, a 30-year-old technician.
Following Bin Ali's flight last Friday, Fouad Mebazaa, the speaker of the lower
house of the Tunisian parliament, became interim president of the country, in
accordance with Article 57 of the Tunisian constitution.
Opposition leaders are already starting to return to the country from exile in
France and other countries. These may include Rachid Al-Ghanoushi, leader of
the previously banned Islamist Ennahda Party, who has said that he intends to
return to Tunisia and take part in the political process.
"Islamists in Tunisia must participate in the coalition government, as we are
part of Tunisian society. Democracy gives the choice to the Tunisian people to
decide who they want to govern them," said a 55-year-old Tunisian Islamist who
had spent 10 years in prison because of his political views.
According to Kamal Bin Younis, editor of a Tunisian international review,
Tunisian Islamists have a different ideology from that of members of radical
Islamist groups elsewhere. "But we can't say how strong the Islamists are until
a dialogue starts with all the previously marginalised political groups in
Tunisia," he said.
"Some think that by recognising the Islamists as a political movement the
government will be able to prevent the appearance of other radical groups," Bin
Younis added.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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