TUNISIA DIALOGUE BEGINS TO END CRISIS
Tunis, 21 Dhul Hijja 1434/26 October 2013 (MINA) – Tunisia’s divided factions began hard-won negotiations Friday to end a protracted political crisis after Islamist premier Ali Larayedh managed to avert an opposition boycott by making a written pledge to resign.
The repeatedly delayed national dialogue aims to break months of deadlock between the Islamist-led government and the mainly secular opposition that has paralysed Tunisia’s political transition nearly three years after the January 2011 uprising, Modern Ghana quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
“Today is an important date in the history of Tunisia. The whole world is watching and waiting for us to succeed,” the powerful Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), which brokered the talks, said on its Facebook page.
“We have registered our first success with the official launch of the national dialogue,” its chief Houcine Abassi was quoted as saying at the start of the closed-door negotiations.
“We will work together to implement the roadmap according to the envisaged timeframe and agree on the constitution, and I hope we will get there quickly,” he added.
Amid growing doubts that the opposition would attend a new attempt to launch the negotiations on Friday, Larayedh sent a written commitment to mediators that his government would resign. The pledge drew a positive reaction from opposition members.
“We are committed to all chapters of the roadmap and our MPs will return to the National Constituent Assembly as soon as the dialogue has started,” said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, a prominent figure in the opposition Republican Party.
Previous efforts to launch the talks on October 5 and 23 failed, most recently when the opposition rejected a statement by Larayedh as “ambiguous,” prompting the Ennahda party prime minister to issue a clarification.
“Last night (Thursday) on television, Tunisia’s prime minister reiterated his government’s pledge to step down according to the quartet roadmap, following the implementation of the preceding milestones in the roadmap,” Ennahda said.
The opposition had refused to join the talks until Larayedh gave a “clear and explicit” undertaking that his government would step down within three weeks of the dialogue’s launch.
Bitter divisions between the Ennahda-led government and its secular opponents have blocked progress on those key political issues, hampering Tunisia’s democratic transition.
Friday’s breakthrough comes amid a tense security situation in Tunisia which was still marking three days of national mourning for six policemen killed in a clash with suspected militants in the central Sidi Bouzid region on Wednesday.
Since the uprising that ousted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime, the country has been rocked by violence blamed on jihadist groups suppressed under the veteran strongman. (T/P09/P04).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
