JOIN USThousands of Islamists marched in Tunis on Saturday in a show of strength a day after the funeral of an assassinated secular politician drew the biggest crowds seen on the streets since Tunisia’s uprising two years ago.
About 6,000 partisans of the ruling Ennahda movement rallied in support of their leader, Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who was the target of angry slogans raised by mourners at Friday’s mass funeral of Chokri Belaid, a rights lawyer and opposition leader. “The people want Ennahda again,” the Islamists chanted, waving Tunisian and party flags as they marched towards the Interior Ministry on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the city centre.
The demonstration was dwarfed by the tens of thousands who had turned out in Tunis and other cities to honuor Belaid and to protest against the Islamist-led government the day before, shouting slogans that included “We want a new revolution”.
Belaid’s killing by an unidentified gunman on Wednesday, Tunisia’s first such political assassination in decades, has shaken a nation still seeking stability after the overthrow of veteran strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.
The family of the slain leader has accused Ennahda of responsibility for his killing. The party denies any hand in it.
Tunisia’s political transition has been more peaceful than those in other Arab nations such as Egypt, Libya and Syria, but tensions are running high between Islamists elected to power and liberals who fear the loss of hard-won freedoms.
After Belaid’s death, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali promised to form a non-partisan, technocratic cabinet to run the country until an election could take place, despite complaints from within his own Ennahda party and its two junior non-Islamist coalition partners that he had failed to consult them.
Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theatres, bars and individuals in recent months.
Prolonged political uncertainty and street unrest could damage an economy that relies on tourism.