Tunisia’s senate has passed legislation that gives interim President Fouad Mebazaa the power to rule by decree.<\/p>\n
The move comes three weeks after protesters ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power into exile in Saudi Arabia.
\nMr Mebazaa will now be able to sidestep parliament which is dominated by associates of Mr Ben Ali.
\nThe interim government has been struggling to restore order following the departure of Mr Ben Ali.
\nThe lower house passed the bill on Monday.
\nInterim Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said the legislation was needed to speed up reforms as people were anxious for change.
\n“Time is precious,” he said on Monday.
\nHe told the senate that political parties banned under Mr Ben Ali would be made legal within days, AFP news agency reports.
\nOver the weekend it was announced that the former ruling party would be suspended and its offices closed.
\nMr Ghannouchi, a longtime ally of Mr Ben Ali who served as his prime minister for 11 years, has promised to hold elections within six months.
\nThe toppling of Mr Ben Ali after 23 years in power helped inspire the current anti-government protests in Egypt.
\nThe UN says that at least 219 people died during Tunisia’s protests which began in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tunisia’s senate has passed legislation that gives interim President Fouad Mebazaa the power to rule by decree. The move comes three weeks after protesters ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power into exile in Saudi Arabia. Mr Mebazaa will now be able to sidestep parliament which is dominated by associates of Mr Ben Ali. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n