Tunisia: An Assassination Will Test Provisional Authority

The July 25 assassination of Tunisian opposition lawmaker Mohammed Brahmi could disrupt what little political progress Tunisia has made since 2011, when former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from office. Hours after Brahmi was killed, mass protests reportedly erupted throughout Tunisia, with some demonstrators even calling for the ruling Islamist Ennahda Party to abdicate power. Already, the powerful Tunisian General Labour Union has called for a general strike in light of the lawmaker's death.

The response to the assassination is hardly surprising. When another prominent opposition figure, Chokri Belaid, was murdered in Tunis nearly six months ago, social discontent enveloped the North African country, eventually prompting the dissolution of the interim government. Since then, the central government in Tunis has made only modest headway in approving a constitution and in setting presidential elections. In this context, several political actors, including remnants of the Ben Ali regime and more radical Islamists opposed to Ennahda, may use the fallout of the Brahmi assassination to undermine the ruling coalition, which includes the Congress for a Republic party and Ettakatol.