Tunisian crisis deepens

Tunisia’s political crisis deepened on Tuesday as the elected National Constituent Assembly suspended its work until the government and opposition open negotiations on a showdown sparked by an opposition figure’s assassination.

The latest twist came as hundreds of demonstrators started to gather outside the assembly building for a mass rally called by the opposition aimed at pressuring the government to step down.

“I assume my responsibility as president of the ANC [assembly] and suspend its work until the start of a dialogue, in the service of Tunisia,” its speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar announced on state television, meeting a key demand of the protesters.

The secular ally of the governing coalition led by the moderate Islamic movement Ennahda was referring to the crisis sparked by the 25 July murder of Mohamed Brahmi that has already prompted many opposition members to boycott the ANC.

The opposition refuses to hold talks with the government unless it steps down while Ennahda rules out any dialogue conditional on its ouster.

In the face of terror threats facing Tunisia, Ben Jaafar condemned the failure of the political leadership to strike a compromise.

“Despite the gravity of the situation and instead of working towards unity, unfortunately party leaders have gone in the opposite direction, towards division, by mobilising” street protests, he said.

Since the ANC was elected in October 2001, political leaders have failed to find a consensus on a new constitution following that year’s revolution which ousted longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.