Protesters Call for Ban of Tunisian RCD Party

20 January 2011

Tunisian protesters shout slogans in front of the RCD party office after the sign bearing its name was dismantled, in Tunis, 20 Jan 2011

Tunisia's transitional government met for the first time as protesters hardened their calls for the former ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party to be dissolved and banned.

The protests in Tunisia are smaller these days than the mass demonstrations that ousted former strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali from power, but protesters say they will continue their rallies until every vestige of his once all-powerful RCD party is gone.

In Tunis, hundreds rallied in front of the RCD party headquarters and on the main Avenue Habib Bourguiba. News agencies reported several thousand people gathered in the southern town of Gafsa and elsewhere in the country.

Several ministers in the new interim government have quit RCD, including the country's interim president Fouad Mebazaa and interim prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi. Tunisia's official news agency reports a junior minister resigned on Thursday after being criticized over his ties to the old Ben Ali regime.

Prime Minister Ghannouchi has enacted key reforms, including lifting the press ban, legalizing a main human rights groups and freeing political prisoners. And on Wednesday, Mebazaa vowed a complete break from the past, saying the country is turning the page.