Thousands of protesters in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, chanted “Government of traitors, resign” Oct. 23 after Islamist Prime Minister Ali Larayedh reneged on an earlier promise to step down.

The rally was organized by the opposition National Salvation Front and backed by many trade unions. According to the Wall Street Journal, high school students joined after the teachers union gave them the day off. A pro-government demonstration called in response never took place.

On Oct. 25 it was announced that an agreement had been reached between the ruling Ennahda party and opposition groups for the government to resign within three weeks. A caretaker government of “technocrats” will be appointed and a timetable for new elections put in place.

After mass protests in 2011 forced the ouster of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who assumed the presidency in a 1987 coup d’état, the Ennahda party won elections with 40 percent of the vote. But support for Larayedh and his Ennahda party soon plummeted once in power as workers bore the brunt of the deepening capitalist crisis and the Islamist party sought to impose its sectarian views on society.

— SETH GALINSKY