Anis Mili/Reuters
Tunisian protesters clashed with the riot police during a demonstration after the death of Mr. Belaid outside the Interior ministry in Tunis on Wednesday.
TUNIS — Tunisian officials moved quickly Wednesday to contain the fallout after a leading opposition figure was assassinated outside his home. They announced that they would restructure the Islamist-led government and form a national unity cabinet as thousands took to the streets in protests that security forces beat back with tear gas.
But Reuters reported on Thursday that the country’s dominant Ennahda party had rejected the plan to to dissolve the government, as proposed Wednesday by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.
“The prime minister did not ask the opinion of his party," Abdelhamid Jelassi, Ennahda’s vice-president was quoted as saying. “We in Ennahda believe Tunisia needs a political government now. We will continue discussions with others parties about forming a coalition government.”
The reported rejection — which was not immediately confirmed — appeared to inject a new element of political uncertainty into an already fraught situation.
The killing of the politician, Chokri Belaid, one of Tunisia’s best-known human rights defenders and a fierce critic of the ruling Islamist party, placed dangerous new strains on a society struggling to reconcile its identity as a long-vaunted bastion of Arab secularism with its new role as a proving ground for one of the region’s ascendant Islamist parties.
The explosion of popular anger, which led to the death of a police officer in the capital, posed a severe challenge to Ennahda, which came to power promising a model government that blended Islamist principles with tolerant pluralism.
Mr. Belaid was shot and killed outside his home in an upscale Tunis neighborhood as he was getting into his car on Wednesday morning. The interior minister, citing witnesses, said that two unidentified gunmen had fired on Mr. Belaid, striking him with four bullets.
The killing, which analysts said was the first confirmed political assassination here since the overthrow of the autocratic leader, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, was a dark turn for the country that was the birthplace of the Arab uprisings of two years ago. It resonated in countries like Egypt and Libya that are struggling to contain political violence while looking to Tunisia’s turbulent but hopeful transition as a reassuring example.
“Confronting violence, radicalism and the forces of darkness is the main priority for societies if they want freedom and democracy,” Amr Hamzawy, a member of Egypt’s main secular opposition coalition, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “Assassinating Chokri Belaid is warning bell in Tunisia, and in Egypt too.”
The response by Tunisian officials was being closely watched. President Moncef Marzouki cut short an overseas trip to deal with the crisis. Mr. Jebali, the prime minister, called the killing a “heinous crime against the Tunisian people, against the principles of the revolution and the values of tolerance and acceptance of the other.”
Bowing to the outrage, he said cabinet ministers would be replaced with technocrats not tied to any party until elections can be held.
The announcement, which had been expected for months, held out the promise that Tunisia might continue to avoid the political chaos that has plagued its neighbors. Since the uprising, the country has held successful elections, leading to a coalition government merging Ennahda and two center-left parties. An assembly writing the country’s constitution has circumscribed the role of Islamic law, allowing Tunisia to avoid the arguments over basic legal matters that have led to protracted unrest in Egypt.
The struggle over identity here has taken a different form, as hard-line Islamists have pressured Ennhada to take a more conservative path. Secular groups have faulted Ennahda for failing to confront the hard-liners, or for secretly supporting them. The restructuring does not completely loosen Ennahda’s hold on political power.
The killing remained a mystery on Wednesday. The authorities did not announce any arrests, saying only that witnesses said the gunmen had appeared to be no more than 30 years old. Among Mr. Belaid’s colleagues and relatives, suspicions immediately fell on the hard-line Islamists known as Salafists, some of whom have marred the transition with acts of violence, including attacks on liquor stores and Sufi mausoleums.
Dominant Tunisian Party Rejects Move to Contain Assassination Fallout
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Dominant Tunisian Party Rejects Move to Contain Assassination Fallout
