(photo: AP) This week's formation of an interim national-unity government in Tunisia was supposed to mark the country's political transition, but events on the ground show that many uncertainties remain, writes Samar Negida in Tunis From the very beginning, and particularly after the flight of former president Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali last weekend, Tunisians have been saying loud and clear that they do not want to see any survivors of the former regime in the country's transitional government, which should contain no traces of the country's former ruling party, the Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique (RCD). However, these demands seemed to have fallen on deaf ears earlier this week, when the country's acting prime minister, Mohamed Al-Ghanoushi, announced a new government containing a majority of politicians from the former ruling RCD. At the news of the announcement on Monday, fresh protests broke out in the streets, if anything fiercer than ever, raising doubts about a stable transition to a democratic government. Some opposition leaders have expressed fears that should the interim national-unity government collapse, this could trigger a military takeover. Only hours after Al-Ghanoushi's announcement of the new government, four opposition ministers had resigned in protest at the continuing domination of the RCD, while a fifth was considering following suit. Their demand was that key posts should not be occupied by associates of former president Bin Ali. Anouar Bin Gueddour, transport minister, Houssine Dimassi, labour minister, Abdel-Jelil Bedoui, minister without portfolio and Mustafa Bin Jaafar, health minister, all resigned, while Moufida Tlatli, culture minister, said she was considering doing so. In an attempt to salvage the government, the country's interim president, Fouad Mebazaa, and acting prime minister Mohamed Al-Ghanoushi both resigned from the RCD. The interim national-unity government announced on Monday contained 19 ministers, six from the RCD, three from the country's major opposition parties, and the rest from various other already existing trends or movements. The three main opposition figures were Mustafa Bin Jaafar, Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, minister of local development, and Ahmed Brahim, who ran for the presidency in the last elections against the former president, as minister of higher education. Leading figures from the former regime included in the new government included Ahmed Friaa as minister of the interior, who announced in a press conference on national television earlier this week that the toll from the demonstrations that have swept the country over the past month had reached 78 people dead and 94 injured, many of the latter being police officers. In his television address announcing the new government, Al-Ghanoushi asked all Tunisians to cooperate with the police in order to help re-establish security in the country, ending his speech with the words, "yes to freedom, yes to democracy." However, despite the formation of the new government, violence continued in Tunisia earlier this week, with heavy gunfire taking place in Carthage, a suburb of the capital Tunis, between the army and what were believed to be units of the former presidential special forces holed up inside the presidential palace. The shooting continued until late on Monday afternoon, when the special forces surrendered. Earlier in the day, protests had been taking place throughout Tunisia, notably in the capital but also in other major cities, against the inclusion of members of the RCD in the interim government. At the same time, national television announced the death of a sniper belonging to one of the militia groups fighting against the new government and the army in Bizerte in the north of the country. Six Swedish nationals were released after being caught by police with a rifle and accused of trying to destabilise the country. The Swedes had been on their way to the airport, but had found their flight cancelled because of the uncertain security situation in the country. Meanwhile, Tunisians have been trying to get back to their normal lives after weeks of disruption, heading back to reopen businesses even as the country's schools and universities remain closed with no date yet having been announced for their reopening. There have been warnings of shortages of basic staples, especially bread and milk, but the governor of the country's central bank used a radio broadcast on Tuesday to announce that Tunisia had sufficient reserves to last at least another six months. "I got my employees to the bakery myself by car last night, so we could start working and give people something to eat in the morning," said Hamouda, the owner of a bakery near Al-Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis. Earlier, the army had announced that the curfew that has been in place in the country's towns and cities over recent days was to be relaxed slightly, going from six in the evening until five in the morning, in order to allow people to get back to their normal lives. While the situation in the country continues to get calmer, army tanks and personnel are still on the capital's main streets. While security checkpoints are also slowly beginning to disappear, they are still heavily concentrated around Carthage and near public buildings. Younger Tunisians in particular have been participating in efforts to ensure security, with many of them forming groups to protect neighbourhoods and belongings and coordinating with the military in moves to check attacks by militias or looters. "This revolution is the young people's revolution. They are the ones who did it. Victory is theirs," commented Mohamed Bin Nasser, a 50-year-old school teacher. "This is a time when Tunisia needs its sons and daughters. We will keep on serving the public, and we will fight whoever tries to take away our freedoms," said Loai, a 21-year-old university student living in the Lafayette neighbourhood of the capital. "I took part in the protests, and I was prepared to be shot if need be. I have seen people giving their lives for this revolution, so I am not afraid of cowards who want to take victory from us. I will keep on fighting for our rights," said Emad, a 30-year-old technician. Following Bin Ali's flight last Friday, Fouad Mebazaa, the speaker of the lower house of the Tunisian parliament, became interim president of the country, in accordance with Article 57 of the Tunisian constitution. Opposition leaders are already starting to return to the country from exile in France and other countries. These may include Rachid Al-Ghanoushi, leader of the previously banned Islamist Ennahda Party, who has said that he intends to return to Tunisia and take part in the political process. "Islamists in Tunisia must participate in the coalition government, as we are part of Tunisian society. Democracy gives the choice to the Tunisian people to decide who they want to govern them," said a 55-year-old Tunisian Islamist who had spent 10 years in prison because of his political views. According to Kamal Bin Younis, editor of a Tunisian international review, Tunisian Islamists have a different ideology from that of members of radical Islamist groups elsewhere. "But we can't say how strong the Islamists are until a dialogue starts with all the previously marginalised political groups in Tunisia," he said. "Some think that by recognising the Islamists as a political movement the government will be able to prevent the appearance of other radical groups," Bin Younis added.
