Second Tunisia Assassination Could Spell End to Islamist Government
The assassination of a second opposition politician in six months has escalated the pressure on Tunisia’s troubled Islamist-led coalition government, which came to power in the wake of the Arab Spring but is struggling to right the economy and rein in extremists.
With the country brought to a virtual standstill by a general strike and the revelation that the same gun was apparently used by an al-Qaeda-linked Islamist extremist cell in the two assassinations, calls grew Friday for the 18-month-old transitional government to stand down.
Six opposition parties holding 42 seats announced their withdrawal from the 217-seat national assembly and said that the government — a coalition between the Islamist Ennahda Party and two secular parties that was elected after the overthrow of the country’s longtime dictator — should be replaced by a temporary national unity government.
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