TUNIS (AP) — Tunisia’s interior minister suspended all activities of the country’s former governing party on Sunday amid the most serious protests since the country’s autocratic ruler fled into exile.
The interior minister, Farhat Rajhi, suspended all meetings of the party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally, and ordered that its offices and meeting places be closed in preparation for its dissolution, a ministry statement said.
The official TAP news agency, which carried the statement, said that Mr. Rajhi took action because of the “extreme urgency” of the new protests and to “preserve the higher interests of the nation.”
The announcement was made after crowds pillaged and then burned a police station in the northwestern city of El Kef. On Saturday, the police there shot and killed at least two demonstrators and injured at least 17 others.
It was the worst violence in Tunisia since its autocratic president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, was forced into exile on Jan. 14 after a month of nationwide antigovernment protests. The country is currently run by a caretaker government.
The authorities have been eliminating traces of the Ben Ali government, notably by deposing officials connected with the Democratic Constitutional Rally — but not fast enough for many Tunisians. During Mr. Ben Ali’s 23 years in power, the party’s activities were not limited to politics; it had tentacles in all aspects of Tunisian life.
The police force, which carried out Mr. Ben Ali’s repressive policies, is also mistrusted. The move by the interior minister, who is ultimately in charge of the police, could amount to a double gesture to shore up the revolution in the eyes of many Tunisians.
source: Associated Press
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