At least three opposition figures will be part of a new Tunisian government that was announced Monday.
The country's interim leaders have ushered in a new national unity government, in an attempt to curb the unrest that led its former president to flee the country last Friday.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi announced the formation of the new government on Monday afternoon.
Several top ministers will retain their jobs in the new government, though three opposition figures will be given important roles.
It is the first new government in Tunisia since Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took power in a bloodless coup in 1987.
Ben Ali fled Tunisia last Friday, as protests in Tunis reached a fever pitch, with thousands of people demanding his resignation.
Ghannouchi temporarily assumed power in Ben Ali's place, though by the end of the weekend, Fouad Mebazaa, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, had been named the interim president.
On Monday, the European Union offered economic aid to Tunisia and assistance organizing the forthcoming "electoral process."
Meanwhile, helicopters hovered above the capital city of Tunis on Monday, as police used tear gas to push back protesters and to bring the latest demonstrations to a halt.
But the fierce desire for new government -- and the public disdain for the ousted president -- was evident on signs the protesters carried in the capital.
"Ben Ali must be judged," one such sign said, before the protesters dispersed.
Some protesters demanded that all of Ben Ali's former allies be left out of the new government.
While Tunisia is normally known as a quiet country, Voice of America reporter Lisa Bryant told CTV's Canada AM that various economic and political problems have been brewing for some time.
"This was sparked by sort of a volatile cocktail of factors," Bryant explained during a phone interview from Tunis.
Many young Tunisians are well-educated but lack employment opportunities, and they are now demanding "more of the economic pie and more political freedom," Bryant said.
Tunisians used web to promote protests
CNN journalist Tim Lister said these same young people are very tech-savvy and have used social networking sites and other online tools to publicize and document their protests. This has helped draw more global attention to what is happening in Tunisia.
"Some of the bloggers and activists have got out there, they've put up on their Facebook pages really graphic pictures of the protests," Lister told CTV's Canada AM from Atlanta on Monday morning.
Images of tear gas clouds, people throwing rocks, and injured persons were posted to Facebook, YouTube and other sites, along with messages of support for those engaged in the protests.
There were also angry messages about the departed leader Ben Ali.
"RCD has been for 23 years a malign cancer growing on the body of Tunisia. Now it is time to remove it," said a Tunis-based Twitter user named Hannibal Barka, in an apparent reference to Ben Ali's ruling party.
A U.K.-based poster said that in Tunisia "the looting is done by the police, ex-presidents loyals, his little dogs are just stealing anything they get their hands on."
Christopher O'Connor, the British ambassador to Tunisia, published a blog entry Monday about the "serious" security situation that has emerged in the wake of the protests in Tunis.
"Looting continues in many areas. And armed gangs have been driving around Tunis in an apparent effort to spread chaos," O'Connor said in the message posted online. "The Army and police are doing their utmost to regain full control."
The goal now for the interim leaders is to bring in a government with more parties and to set a date for new elections. Tunisia's constitution requires that elections be called within two months, though one opposition leader has suggested six months are necessary for the public to familiarize themselves with opposition parties.
In France, medical professor Moncef Marzouki indicated that he would be a candidate in the forthcoming election.
"The question is whether there will or won't be free and fair elections," said Marzouki, the leader of the once-banned CPR party.
With files from The Associated Press
