Tunisia on Edge as Protests Continue
Mischa Benoit-Lavelle reports from Tunis that Tunisia’s Ministry of Interior is under scrutiny following the killing of leftist politician Chokri Belaid.
TUNIS — As politicians debate Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali's proposal to replace Tunisia's ministers with non-partisan technocrats, Tunisia stands on the brink of its third transitional government in just over two years.
This latest change has been precipitated by the killing of leftist politician and human rights lawyer Chokri Belaid. Belaid was shot in the head and neck outside of his home Wednesday morning by two masked gunmen who escaped on a moped. The killing was quickly construed as a political assassination, a nearly unprecedented event in Tunisia which drew thousands into the street on Wednesday and tens of thousands to Belaid's funeral on Friday.
The consequences of Belaid's assassination are still playing out in the streets and in the meeting rooms of political parties. But a question that has been only rarely asked in the days following the event is who exactly is responsible the killing of the leftist leader.
While the opposition has heaped blame upon the shoulders of Ennahda for “negligence” and “complicity,” in the words of one opposition party representative, they have stopped short of saying that Ennahda or its operatives were directly responsible. Instead, they have blamed the attack on radical groups, meaning either the Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution, volunteer groups who tend to hold pro-Ennahda views, or radical Salafist groups.
