Tunisia's Ennahda warn of 'chaos threatening the country'

Number of Tunisian Constituent Assembly members Tunis - Nabil Zaghdoud   Tunisia on Tuesday said it will allow demonstrations on a symbolic street in the capital two days after police brutally clamped down on protesters who defied a ban on rallies. "The avenue is reopened to all Tunisians, those who want to demonstrate, to walk or to work," interior minister Ali Larayedh said following a cabinet meeting that also called for an "independent inquiry" into Monday's violence.
Bourguiba Avenue in the heart of Tunis has been the site of numerous demonstrations since the Zine el Abidine Ben Ali regime fell in January 2011.
But Tunisia's government, led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, banned rallies on the street on March 28, three days after Islamist protesters demanding sharia law attacked a group of actors last month.
The interior ministry said the ban was needed because those who do business on the avenue had complained about the repeated disruptions.
On Monday, at least 15 civilians and eight policemen were hurt as riot police fired tear gas and baton-charged hundreds of protesters who had turned out to defy the ban.
Larayedh, an Ennahda member, has been called to give an account of the violence to Tunisia's constituent assembly on Thursday.
Government spokesman Samir Dilou said later the cabinet had decided to set up an independent inquiry into the violence and especially the reported presence of "militia groups" alongside the police.
"If this is true, it is very serious," he said. "If they are gratuitous accusations it's also a problem."
Demonstrators had spoken of people in civilian clothes armed with batons and teargas grenades who gave support to the police. Opposition politicians seized on the reports to accuse Ennahda of responsibility.
Dilou said that Bourguiba Avenue would be reopened "according to strict procedures" which he did not spell out.A number of Tunisian Constituent Assembly members from the opposition, have broken the demonstration ban in Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the Tunisian capital. Meanwhile, leader of EnnahdaMovement, Sheikh Rached al-Ghanoushi, has warned of what he described as  "chaos threatening the country".
More than 20 members of the Constituent Assembly, gathered to break the demonstration ban in Habib Bourguiba Avenue on Tuesday April 10. The members, who included Ahmed Najib al-Chabi, Ahmed Ibrahim, Miya al-Djireibi, al-Fadel Moussa, Khamiss Kossaila, Mohammed Berahmi, and Ibrahim al-Kassas, gathered at 4:00 pm GMT, in front of Ibn Khaldon's statue, then walked towards the Interior Ministry's headquarters where they were joined by hundreds of citizens carrying banners bearing slogans deriding the Interior Minister's decision to forbid demonstrations or ceremonies to be conducted in Habib Bourguiba Avenue, while security troops unexpectedly allowed them to reach the HQ of the Interior Ministry.
Speaking to Arabstoday, General Secretary of the Republican Party, said: "This step is intended to re-open Habib Bourguiba Avenue to everyone. It is a shame that the icon of the Tunisian revolution is closed to demonstrators,  and we will reopen it whatever happens."
Meanwhile, the head of the Patriotic Democrats Movement, Shokri Bel'eid, said: "We will reach the Interior Ministry's headquarters, and will order its minister to court. The people who defeated dictatorship will not bow to suppression and will never allow another dictatorial regime."
A citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, interrupted Bel'eid, saying: "The Interior Minister is a patriot, while those demonstrators and opposition figures are hypocrites. Those who love Tunisia should preserve its stability instead of trying to bring down an elected government. This demonstration is intended to thwart the revolution."
The Interior Minister, Ali Liareed  met with journalists and Constituent Assembly members, who handed him a message including their rejection to the ministry's violence towards the demonstrators, together with demands to revoke the demonstration ban in Habib Bourguiba Avenue, and to open an investigation concerning the violent actions of the security troops, and the demonstrators' accusations that they recruited militias to assist them in the suppression during Monday's demonstrations to mark the Martyrs' Day anniversary in Tunisia.
 Leader of the ruling Ennahda Party, Sheikh Rached al-Ghanoushi, warned of what he described as  "chaos threatening the country", accusing opposition figures of "adopting Stalinist methods to hinder the government's efforts".
"Tunisia is not threatened by the return of dictatorship, in fact it is threatened by chaos. The government will not be overthrown except by elections, or by the Constituent Assembly, which has the right to withdraw confidence in it. This government has the support of the people who voted for it, along with international support  for freedom and democracy", said Ghanoushi, in a press conference held in his party's headquarters on Tuesday.
Ghanoushi emphasised his condemnation against violence, saying: "We condemn violence, whether it comes from the authorities or demonstrators".
Several Tunisian governorates witnessed demonstrations on Tuesday, protesting against the violence meted out to demonstrators on Monday in the Tunisian capital.