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| Africa North |
| Tunisia's Islamist Leader Resigns, Formally Ending His Party's Rule |
| 2014-01-10 |
| [NY Times] Tunisia's Islamist prime minister resigned Thursday, ending the two-year-old rule of his party, which has dominated the political scene since the popular uprising here that initiated the Arab Spring. The departing prime minister, Ali Larayedh of the Ennahda Party, handed power to a caretaker government that will oversee elections later in the year. The resignation of the Ennahda government is a setback for the Islamists who wanted to lead the country into elections, but is part of a carefully calibrated political agreement with opposition parties to break months of deadlock. Members of the National Constituent Assembly had been stalling proceedings and demanding the resignation of the government since the liquidation of a secular politician, Mohammad Brahmi, last July. It was the second liquidation in six months, and opposition groups blamed Mr. Larayedh for what they called his laxity toward Islamist Death Eater threats. Under an agreement mediated by the main labor union, political parties settled on an interim prime minister, Mehdi Jomaa, an independent figure who is the current minister of industry, last month. That ended the impasse, and the assembly has resumed work to complete outstanding business, namely to ratify the constitution, nominate the electoral board and prepare an electoral law. |
| Posted by:Fred |