Thousands of people took to the streets of the Tunisian capital demanding to end the rule of the Islamist government, which they accuse of assassinating prominent secular politician, Chokri Belaid.
The March 16 demonstration is the biggest in a series of protest
events, which took place in the country after Belaid was shot dead
outside his home exactly 40 days ago.
The rallies already lead to Tunisian Prime Minister, Hamadi
Jebali, resigning from his position on March 14. Fellow member of
the ruling Islamist Ennahda party, Ali Larayedh, who came in as a
replacement, has formed a new coalition government with
independents in key ministries.
But the move wasn’t enough to calm the people as they chanted
"Ennahda go", "The people want a new revolution" and "The
people want to bring down the regime" during their
demonstration on Saturday.
Belaid’s family accuse Ennahda of murder, but the ruling Tunisian
party denies any involvement. With nobody claiming responsibility
for the crime, police are saying that the assassin was a radical
Salafist Islamist.
"They killed Chokri but they cannot kill the values of freedom
defended by him," Belaid's widow Basma said in front of her
husband's grave on Saturday.
Belaid’s liberal nine-party Popular Front bloc has only three seats
in Tunisia's parliament, but it speaks for many people, who fear
that the religious radicals would deprive them of freedoms won in
the Arab spring.
Despite not playing a major role in the Jasmine Revolution, which toppled president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, it’s the Islamists, who took power in the country though a general election.
The protests didn’t prevent Ennahda party chairman, Rashid
Ghannouchi, from holding talks with a visiting European Union
delegation, headed by the European Commissioner for Enlargement and
European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule.
"Ennahda Movement supports the deepening of relations with the
European Union on the basis of common interests and mutual
respect,” Ghannouchi is cited as saying on the Muslim
Brotherhood’s official website. "Ennahda Movement wants to take
Tunisia out of this transitional period in the shortest time, after
the approval of the country’s new Constitution which should
establish democracy, uphold the rule of law and guarantee
freedoms."
For his part, Fule insisted that the EU are also ready for
cooperation with Tunisia, adding that it supports the democratic
transition process and legitimacy in the North-African country.
"The European Union (EU) remains confident in the capacity of
the Tunisian political leaders to find efficient solutions to the
political, economic and social challenges faced by Tunisia in this
transition period", he said.
Good relations with Europe are essential for Tunisia, which –
unlike neighboring Libya and Algeria – lacks vast oil and gas
resources, relying on tourism as one of the main sources of
income.