Ministers quit Tunisian Ben Ali’s party

All ministers in Tunisia’s transitional government have quit the party of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as dissent continues to grow over the presence of officials from the previous government.

“All the ministers of the RCD (Constitutional Democratic Rally) have resigned from the party,” an official who did not want to be identified told AFP on Thursday.

The Tunisian Press Agency (TAP) also announced that the RCD ministers had “quit their responsibilities in the heart of the party.”

The news comes two days after Tunisian interim President Fouad Mebazaa and Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi quit Ben Ali’s RCD party.

“I guarantee that this transition government will ensure a total break with the past,” Mebazaa noted after quitting the party.

The ministers left the party as protests intensified over the inclusion of RCD members in the new unity government.

On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, and called for the resignation of the country’s interim government.

Over 100 people have been confirmed dead in the weeks of unrest, which had engulfed the north African country.