Assassination of opposition politician stokes political turmoil in Tunisia

By bne IntelliNews July 26, 2013

The assassination of Mohamed Brahmi on Tunisia’s national Independence Day has triggered centripetal forces stoking further political turmoil in the country.

Brahmi’s murder, the second of a secular politician this year following the killing of Chokri Belaid in February, has stoked mass protests in Tunis and other cities against the ruling mildly Islamist El Nahda party for their failure to address socio-economic issues as well as the constitutional impasse in the country.

The main labor union in the country has called for a nationwide strike on Friday to be joined with leftists, secularists and liberals.

Brahmi was a vocal critic of the ruling coalition led by the Islamist El Nahda party and a member of the Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution for the North African nation, which is split between Islamists and their opponents. The secular opposition to Islamist rule has been emboldened in Tunisia following the fall of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Related Articles

Iraq holds talks with Excelerate Energy on buying first LNG from US

Iraq is in the final stages of negotiating its first-ever purchase of LNG supplies as power outages hamper the Middle East country, Bloomberg reported on June 26. Dallas-headquartered Excelerate ... more

Reformist Kamil al-Tayeb Idris appointed as Sudan’s new Prime Minister

Sudan’s Sovereign Council head, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, issued a constitutional decree on May 19 appointing Kamil al-Tayeb Idris as the new prime minister, Al Sharq Al Awsat reported. He also ... more

Egypt examines LNG supply offers from Saudi Aramco, UAE’s Adnoc, Algeria’s Sonatrach, and QatarEnergy

Egypt's state-owned gas company EGAS has received several offers to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments urgently needed for summer, Al Sharq reported on May 18, citing an unnamed government ... more

Dismiss