Tunisian coalition plagued by trouble

Four ministers have resigned from Tunisia’s new national unity government on its second day of work.

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Tunis - Tunisia's new national unity government ran into trouble on Tuesday when four ministers quit and an opposition party threatened to walk out, undermining efforts to restore stability and end unrest on the streets.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi brought opposition leaders into the coalition on Monday after president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia following weeks of popular protests.

But key figures from the old guard kept their jobs, angering new opposition appointees and street demonstrators, who saw in it a ploy to deny them the fruits of their “Jasmine Revolution”.

Trying to defuse the row, Ghannouchi and caretaker President Fouad Mebazza quit the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) - until this week the party vehicle for Ben Ali's strongman rule.

For one of the rebel new ministers, Mustafa Ben Jaafar, that move might be enough to tempt him back and to attend Wednesday's first cabinet meeting, a source close to Ben Jaafar said.

But the response of trade union UGTT, which pulled its three ministers from the new cabinet line-up, was that, while their ditching of old party cards was positive, it was not sufficient.

Nonetheless, trouble in the streets was fading. Police in Tunis repeatedly used teargas to try to break up a protest by a few hundred opposition supporters and trade unionists who called the new government a “sham”. But by evening, nearby residents, irritated by the gas, were demanding the demonstrators go home.

The weeks of protests over poverty and unemployment which forced Ben Ali out prompted speculation across the Arab world that other repressive governments might also face unrest.

In neighbouring Libya, the latest airing of tension between reformist and conservative camps around veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi saw a news agency linked to a son of Gaddafi give voice to popular complaints of corruption and waste in the army.

Signalling concerns in financial markets, Standard and Poor's said it might cut Tunisia's credit ratings. - Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/tunisian-coalition-plagued-by-trouble-1.1013789

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