TUNISIA: Forty-two Tunisian opposition members announce their resignation from the 217-seat Constituent Assembly to protest the murder of a politician

Record ID: 342968

  • Title: TUNISIA: Forty-two Tunisian opposition members announce their resignation from the 217-seat Constituent Assembly to protest the murder of a politician
  • Date: 27th July 2013
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (JULY 26, 2013) (REUTERS) MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT HOLDING DISCUSSIONS AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE KHAMIS KSSILA OF NIDA TOUNS PARTY TALKING TO PARLIAMENTARIANS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) KHAMIS KSSILA OF OPPOSITION NIDA TOUNS PARTY, SAYING: "We start a struggle to dissolve the National Constituency Assembly (NCA) and to topple the government." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROG
  • Embargoed: 11th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: Crime,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1K9R3DJ9XUYE8V52RJPGV43CL
  • Story Text: Forty-two Tunisian opposition members announced on Friday (July 26) their resignation from the 217-seat Constituent Assembly to protest the killing of politician Mohamed Brahmi.
    The announcement came after the country was swept by demonstrations on a second day after Brahmi's assassination. He was a member of the Arab nationalist Popular Front party.
    One protester was killed and several injured in the southern city of Gafsa, witnesses said.
    Khamis Kssila of the Nida Touns party told a news conference the departing members would begin a sit-in to demand the dissolution of the assembly and formation of a national salvation government, ideas rejected by Prime Minister Ali Larayedh.
    "We decided to retire from NCA and to start an unlimited sit-in in front of NCA under tents, until the dissolution of NCA and the end of the government. Then, the set up of a salvation government. The members will not run for any further election, and the chief of this government will be a patriotic and independent personality," Kssila said.
    The assembly, controlled by Islamists, is in charge of drafting a new constitution for the North African nation of 11 million people.
    Divisions between Islamists and their secular opponents have deepened since Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011 in the first of the Arab Spring revolutions.
    Two witnesses told Reuters that anti-government protester Mofti Mohamed died during protests in Gafsa on Friday night. There were conflicting accounts of how he died.
    Kssila called for a political solution to end more violence.
    "The longer they delay the choice of a reasonable and patriotic solution, the more deaths and wounded we will have. God bless the person who died. We invite people to demonstrate peacefully," he said.
    There were also several people injured in Gafsa from teargas, witnesses said.
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