Strikes, Demos in Tunisia as Ruling Party Office Torched

Angry protesters clashed with police Wednesday and torched an office of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party, as rising discontent and political deadlock prompted people to go on strike in three parts of the country.

In Siliana, southwest of Tunis, hundreds of residents gathered outside the governor's office to remember more than 300 people injured one year ago, when demonstrations exploded into days of running clashes between police and protesters.

Violence broke out when dozens of them hurled rocks at the police, who responded by throwing rocks back and driving into the crowd to disperse them.

The protesters then headed towards the national guard headquarters where they continued to throw stones, as the police tried to keep them away by firing tear gas.

In the poor central region of Gafsa, hundreds of people attacked the Ennahda party headquarters after trying to break into the governor's office, and police fired tear gas to scatter the crowd.

The protesters seized files and furniture from the office and burned them in the road, while preventing firemen from gaining access to the building.

"The people want the fall of the regime" and "The people of Gafsa are a free people" were among the slogans chanted.

Siliana, Gafsa and the eastern Gabes region ground to a halt on Wednesday in a general strike called to protest against poverty and lack of development.

Those were driving factors behind the popular uprising nearly three years ago that toppled former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. They continue to plague much of Tunisia, whose sluggish economic recovery has failed to create jobs or spur regional development.

A number of similar protests have resulted in regional offices of Ennahda being attacked in recent months.

Gafsa is strategic because of its phosphate mines, but remains among the poorest areas in Tunisia despite its natural wealth. It witnessed anti-government protests in 2008, under Ben Ali, that were savagely repressed.

Since the revolution, phosphate production has slumped because of disruptions caused by strikes and protests, and despite thousands of people being hired in the state-run sector as part of government efforts to defuse social tensions.

The catalyst for Wednesday's industrial action in Gafsa and Gabes was a government decision not to include them in the list of regions where five new university-linked hospitals are to be built.

'Government foot dragging'

The local branch of the UGTT workers union held the decision up as an example of the government's unequal treatment of different regions, another grievance that motivated the uprising three years ago.

In Gabes, most public offices and businesses were closed in response to the UGTT's strike call. A large protest was held in the early afternoon, with no incidents reported.

In Siliana, shops and offices also remained shut to mark the first anniversary of the social protests that the police violently suppressed. Many of last year's victims were injured by birdshot.

"The people injured by birdshot were victims of the government, which is dragging its feet," said Ahmed Chefai, the deputy leader of the UGTT's local branch.

"The government has not stuck by its commitments contained in the December 2012 agreement, which called for the state to take care of the injured and provide for their physical and material needs," he added.

Siliana ranks 18th out of the country's 24 provinces in terms of development, according to the UGTT, and has yet to see the public investment promised in the wake of the unrest.

Strikes have multiplied across Tunisia in recent weeks, with political deadlock, the lack of functioning state institutions and a rise in attacks by Islamist militants adding to the social discontent.

Tunisia was plunged into political crisis in July with the killing of opposition leader Mohammed Brahmi by suspected jihadists, triggering calls for the resignation of the Ennahda-led coalition government.

Under an ambitious roadmap brokered by mediators last month, Ennahda and the opposition pledged to negotiate an interim government of independents. But the talks were suspended shortly afterwards with the two sides unable to agree on a new prime minister.