TUNIS: Tunisia raised the possibility of a delay in July polls called after the president was toppled five months ago, as locals reported Monday new unrest and the killing of a man in clashes with troops.
The interim government was committed to July elections for an assembly to draw up a new constitution after president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January, Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi said in a televised address.
However it could not be responsible for logistical delays, he warned, as some parties called for the poll to be postponed.
“The government made a commitment by choosing the date of July 24 and we intend to keep to that date but if the reform committee says there are technical and logistical hitches, there will be another probability to discuss,” Essebsi said.
“It is true we have been slow in dealing with this but the high commission charged with preparing these crucial elections in July is independent and the government is only giving it material and logistical support.”
Ben Ali’s 23 year rule was ended by weeks of demonstrations and Tunisia has since struggled to stabilize.
A new wave of protests erupted Thursday after former interior minister Farhat Rajhi claimed a military coup by Ben Ali loyalists was being prepared should the newly legalized Islamist Ennahda (Renaissance) party win the election.
He later backed off from his remarks but was fired as head of the human rights commission and branded a liar by Essebsi.
Witnesses reported fresh unrest Sunday and early Monday in suburbs of the capital despite the imposition of a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.
A 25-year-old man died after he was shot in the stomach when troops opened fire to disperse stone-throwing protesters in Slimane Sunday, said a senior official in the Democratic Labor Party, Abdallah Gasmi, who saw the incident.
Young men went on the rampage late Sunday in Ettadhamen suburb as military choppers patrolled overhead, said resident Abdelrazak Haouini.
The youths used rubbish bins and concrete blocks to set up barricades on the main road to block the security forces but there was none of the looting of the previous night’s unrest, he said.
“One of the youths, who was being pursued by police, climbed onto the roof of a house and he fell,” he said.
On Saturday men armed with knives, chains, sabers and gas bombs burned down five police stations while shops and apartments were attacked and looted, officials said.
Authorities arrested 70 people after the unrest, La Presse newspaper said citing the Interior Ministry.
The Interior Ministry said it had identified security officers responsible for attacking 15 journalists covering protests Friday, La Presse said.
It has already apologised after police broke up Friday’s protests, which called on the transitional government to resign and demanded a “new revolution” – using tear gas, truncheons and iron bars.
Dozens of journalists marched in the center of Tunis Monday, denouncing the attacks on them and calling for freedom of the press.