Political turmoil: Tunisian president quits after protests

Ben Ali steps aside after failing to quell the worst anti-government unrest in his two decades in power.

TUNIS: Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali quit on Friday after 23 years in power and fled the North African state as the authorities declared a state of emergency following deadly protests.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced on state television that he had taken over as interim president, after a day of violent clashes between rock-throwing protesters and riot police in the streets of central Tunis. He said the government had been sacked and elections would be held in six months.

Government sources told AFP that it was not immediately clear where Ben Ali was headed. Ben Ali had promised on Thursday to stand down at the end of his mandate in 2014. Ben Ali’s dramatic departure came after several tumultuous weeks in which a protest over high food prices and unemployment in central Tunisia escalated and spread across the country, with anger against the president spilling into the streets.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2011.