In Tunisia, tens of thousands of people flocked to the streets of the capital Tunis for demonstrations marking six months since the assassination of Chokri Belaid, a leading human rights advocate and critic of the Islamist-led government, who was gunned down outside his home on February 6. Tunisia has been embroiled in a political crisis over the past two weeks following the fatal shooting of another opposition leader — Mohamed Brahmi, a member of Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly, who was killed on July 25. On Tuesday, the assembly suspended its activities indefinitely pending a dialogue between the two sides. An anti-government demonstrator spoke out on Friday at Bardo Square in Tunis.

Jendoubi Shaker: “I’m here today because the situation in Tunisia is critical, because the
government and the National Constituent Assembly are devouring Tunisian people. First of all, we ask for the government of Ennahda to be overthrown. And second, we ask for the National Constituent Assembly to be dissolved and to form a new government. We have to stand united for Tunisia. Every Tunisian, from Bizerte in the north to Ben Gardane in the south, is asked to watch over Tunisia and protect it. Our only concern is to keep the country’s integrity. We have to put an end to violence, because after the revolution we have witnessed three political assassinations — Lotfi Nagdh, Chokri Belaid, and now Mohamed Brahmi. We also have witnessed the attack on our national military, where eight soldiers were assassinated in Chambi, and we have to make sure these things will never happen again. We have to stand united for Tunisia.”