Brussels, 26/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has condemned “in the strongest terms” the killing, in Tunis on Thursday 25 July, of one of the opposition leaders, Mohamed Brahmi, a left-wing Arab nationalist. The killing took place on the day of the anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic. Civil society had been mobilised to mark its distance from the Islamist party in government and its allies.
Since this political assassination, the country has been in upheaval and emotions are running high. Clashes took place during Thursday evening and the main organisations of the country, with the trade union UGTT to the fore, called for a general strike to be held on Friday. Several parties and civil society movements have also called for the government to resign and some are even calling for the constituent Assembly to be dissolved.
In a press release, published late on Thursday, a statement was released by Catherine Ashton on behalf of the EU. In the release, she presents her condolences to the family and friends of the victim as well as to activists and members of his party, and calls on the “Tunisian authorities to investigate the murder without delay and bring to justice those responsible”. She points out that “the murderers of Choukri Belaid killed on February 6 have still not been arrested and brought to justice”. The government is accused of being indulgent towards extremists that share its views while it cracks down on artists and the Femen which has become a matter of discord between the government and civil society. It is also accused of not telling the truth when it states that it has identified Belaïd's killers. This has gradually become one of the elements that is undermining confidence in Tunisia the most, not to mention the delays in the political timetable. The EU also states it “believes that the rapid completion of the drafting of the constitution and organisation of the next general elections are the best answer to these cowardly attacks”.
Ashton asserts: “These political assassinations represent attacks by enemies of democracy against the Republic, the Tunisian people and the values of the revolution of January 14, 2011”. She calls on the “political parties of the government and the opposition as well as the civil society of Tunisia committed to democratic values to find the necessary compromises in a spirit of consensus, tolerance and mutual respect”. The implicit fear is that of seeing Tunisia slide into the Egyptian scenario. In both countries, the people consider that the “Islamists” have crossed a red line and that their desire to dominate both countries is intolerable. Hence “the EU calls on all political, economic and social as well as civil society activists to lend their support to a peaceful and democratic response to today's killing”.
Egyptian spectre incites Parliament's call for caution.
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, has spoken of his “great emotion” and condemns the assassination with the utmost firmness. He states that the killing, like that of Belaïd, cannot remain unpunished. Schulz also seems cautious in what he says, not wishing to draw any political conclusions, against the “Islamists”, of this continuing practice of assassination. He does not seem to want at this stage to form a link between the worsening of the Tunisian situation and the situation underway in Egypt. Speaking on behalf of the European Parliament, he expresses solidarity with the men and women of Tunisia, a partner and neighbour country.
Crossing a new threshold.
Speaking through its president, Jean-Claude Mignon, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also “firmly” condemns this assassination after that of Belaïd. Mignon considers that the assassination means a new line has been crossed in the use of political violence in Tunisia, and that this clearly aims to destabilise the country's process of democratic transition. This comes at a time when the Tunisian people are stepping up their efforts to avail themselves of a constitution that is based on universal principles of democracy and human rights. (FB/transl.jl)