Saturday, January 15, 2011

The president of Tunisia social tension falls

The Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, left office after 23 years of management by the back door. The once powerful military had no choice but to declare a state of emergency and take refuge in Saudi Arabia indefinitely, after violent demonstrations calling for his resignation. Ben Ali promised to call elections in six months and his place is taken by Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, who will have the challenge of defusing social tensions.

"Under Article 56 of the Constitution, I assume from this point the position of interim president "Ghannouchi said on television from the Palace of Carthage, the seat of the Executive. The new president, 69, attended by the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and Senators, called for unity of Tunisians of all political tendencies and vowed to uphold the Constitution.

The demonstration in the capital was the center of the rubber bullets and tear gas. In the streets of Tunis the cry of "Ben Ali, go!" And "! Ben Ali, murderer!" Prevailed, and the arrests. Another poster said "Do not forget," referring to the demonstrators killed, many shot by police. Zine El Abidine facing its worst time in more than two decades of management and tried to rebuild the road on Thursday when it announced the reduction in basic food prices and pledged to leave office when his term ended in 2014, but all in vain.

That same day, the protesters returned to the streets and clashes with security forces grew to the point of leaving a balance of 15 dead, according to medical sources. Before these reports, the International Federation of Human Rights reported that there were 66 deaths since the start of the protests, which began in mid-December.

The protests reached the point where several protesters jumped the walls of the previously feared Ministry of the Interior, where according to reports detainees were tortured for years. The U.S. president, Barack Obama, in a statement praised the "courage and dignity" that showed the Tunisian people and called for elections "fair." The UN for its part, urged the parties to "make every effort to establish a dialogue and solve problems peacefully, to avoid further loss of life and violence." QUOTE "I promise to respect the Constitution and work to reform the economic and social issues carefully and consult with all parties," Mohammed Ghannouchi, Acting President of Tunisia.

PERFILESLos protagonistasZine El Abidine Ben AliNació in Susa in 1936. He is the son of a dock worker, trained at the Ecole Militaire de Saint Cyr, France. He was an active militant of the Socialist Youth Desturianas, for which he was imprisoned in 1952. At 22, Ben Ali and was chief of military security in Tunisia, a position he held for 16 years and helped him to learn in depth the military.

Traveled to America to study espionage and anti-spyware. In 1977 he was in the Ministry of Defence and later moved to the Department of Homeland Security. In 1986 he was Minister of Internal Security in October 1987 and President Habib Bourguiba appointed him prime minister. A month after Ben Ali became president with a nonviolent coup, then took advantage of the health of Bourguiba to declare itself incompetent to rule.

After being ousted Habib remained under house arrest until his death in April 2006. Mohamed GanuchiNació on August 18, 1941 in Susa. He studied economics at home and traveled to France a grant from the Ministry of Finance in that country. In 1975 he was appointed director of General Planning, a position he held until 1982, when he went to work at the Ministry of Planning and Finance.

Eight years later took over ownership of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and in 1992 the International Cooperation and Foreign Investment. He was also director of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) member of Economic and Social Council and administrator in the Tunisian Development Bank and National Bank of Tunisia (BNT).

On November 18, 1999 President Ben Ali was appointed to replace Prime Minister Hamed Karui, who served for 10 years. He is married and has two children.

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