Ben Ali Inc: a political timebomb

The focus on epic battles at the government's headquarters, the fate of companies impounded from the former presidential clan - some count among the biggest groups in the land - is a ticking timebomb for Hamadi Jebali's administration. With the opposition and its own electrorate looking on impatiently, the government dominated by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda is facing a real problem: many of the civil servants handling the issue were already on post under Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. What is more, some had a hand in the now-contested financial and business operations they are now supposed to be unravelling.
When the firms firms were sold off, the government's hesitations benefited buyers who were more or less known to the authorities. And tracking down assets squirreled away overseas by the presidential clan is also marking time.