Tunisia PM Hamadi Jebali rejects resignation calls

He blamed opposition parties and salafists for sowing disorder and harming the country's economy and image in terms of attracting much needed investment. The government had to make a stand against this violence, he said. The demonstrators and the Union continued to demand jobs and an equitable distribution of wealth,Tunisian pressreported.

The Prime Minister agreed to establish a commission of inquiry to establish a commission of enquiry into the violence and that the governor would be dismissed if he was found to have failed to  have failed in his mission, but the government refused to respond to pressure. Similarly he emphasised that only the  Constituent Assembly could demand the resignation of the government of the dismissal of a minister which could only be decided by a voteof confidence, he pointed out.

The government could no tbe expcted all the problems it had inherited from the previous regime over night , he asserted.He also condemned attacks onthe police  whist acknolwdedging that that "the economic and social situation is difficult and delicate Siliana, but also in all regions of the country as youth unemployment, and development projects that have yet to start." The leaders of  the protest were trying to leadasecond revolution against a legally  and democtatically elected government which was  trying to manage the transition.  He condemned the use of violence against the police and administration and  called for dialogue and consultation.

The rioting in Siliana is the latest in a number of disturbances and protests in deprived regions which havebeen ongoing since the revolution.