Tunisians Protest as Former Minister Warns about Coup
Rachid Ghannouchi (theheartofamerica.wordpress.com)
Tunisian took it to the streets again, demanding a new revolution, as a minister of the former regime of Ben Ali warned that the loyalists would provoke a coup if the Islamist party Ennahda took power through the elections scheduled for July 23.
Since the regime of Ben Ali was toppled, in January, anti- and pro-Islamist movements have sparked in Tunisia, with Ennahda, led by scholar Rachid Ghannouchi, being credited as the most likely to obtain a favorable score in the elections to come.
Protest in Tunisia (sxminfo.com)
The party has been banned for the most part of Ali’s reign, like all the Islamists groups. Soon after the regime was toppled Ghannouchi returned, and was hailed like a hero.
In a video shared on Facebook, Farhat Rajhi, who was briefly minister of interior after the Jasmine revolution, said that “if Ennahda takes power, there will be a coup d’etat.”
He added that the loyalists, whom he called “the people of the coast,” because they are grouped around the coastal city of Sousse, hometown of Ben Ali, were not ready to hand power over to the Islamists.
The government distanced itself from these allegations but by the time it did so the people were already in the streets demanding its resignation and accusing it of using the threat of a coup to put an end to democratic changes.
