Yesterday Tunisian officials announced a new “unity” government, which saw a handful of opposition figures given token ministerships while the allies of ousted dictator Ben Ali retained all the positions of power. It was assumed by officials this would end the mass protests across the nation. It didn’t.
Rather the protesters quickly identified the new government as a sham and continued their condemnations. Just 24 hours after its founding, the new government is on the brink of collapse as all three of the new opposition ministers walked out. One of the existing ministers, Health Minister Mustapha Jaafar, also resigned.
After decades of authoritarian rule, Tunisian protesters are calling not just for token reforms and new elections, but rather a broad change in the way their society operates. With President Ben Ali safely in Saudi Arabia, there appears to be little interest in embracing Prime Minister Ghannouchi or anyone else as the new strongman.
Exactly where the Tunisian government goes from here remains to be seen, but there continues to be a serious disconnect by Ben Ali’s remaining loyalists, who believe they can still salvage power, and the protesters who want a clean sweep.
of course, the covert part of the story is the role of the US embassy in seeking to cobble together ridiculous coalitions like this that leave Ben Ali's people in charge of the military and the interior, so as to avoid embarassing disclosures about the subcontracting of indefinite detention and torture by the US to Tunisia
that's what we need journalists to dig into, as well as the protesters getting their hands on the interior ministry so that we can learn what's inside
Die tyrants, die!
This is always a tragedy that old traiters come with new faces and govern.
In the case of Tunesia will be very difficult as the wounds are very deep.
Gotta' wonder where the CIA and White House are on this one. You would think that they understand Ben Ali's people are a dead-end, but you can also bet that they don't want some of the opposition in power. My guess is they are trying to influence some kind of "third way."
These crooks really think the people are stupid? What I can't understand is why the people are not going into the presidential/official offices, grabbing these thugs by the scruff of the necks and kicking their asses out, literally. These types don't take hints, no matter how forceful they may be and only respond to physical actions.