TUNIS – President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has quit today after more than 23 years in the position and has reportedly fled the north African country, with Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi taking over for the time being.

The new interim leader called for unity after weeks of protests against the western-backed regime led by Ben Ali. They reached all the way to the capital city and raged across the country, which has been experiencing economic turmoil.

Ghannouchi pledged to respect the Constitution and to lower food prices, which sparked the original Tunisian protests. Unemployment also has been a major problem in Tunisia along with government repression.

 “I call on Tunisians of all political persuasions and from all regions to demonstrate patriotism and unity,” he said according to the Middle East Online in an appearance on state television.

Ben Ali, who many have described as a dictator, left due to mounting political pressure from thousands of demonstrators across the country. At least 66 people have been reported dead and hundreds hurt in clashes with police since they began near the tail end of 2010.

He had previously gone on TV to announce that he would not seek re-election in 2014, against the wishes of his party, because of his age (74) and the country’s age limit of 75 for presidents. He also told the people that the country’s security forces would stop firing on protestors.

He had dismissed his governmental staff and called on early parliamentary elections as well.

Ben Ali had reportedly left for France, the former colonial power, but was not accepted in Paris, where protests had also taken place on behalf of Tunisians. He ended up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with his family.

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter assisted greatly in reporting the events within the country, which has a repressive stance on communications. The government had at one point hacked into many of them in attempts to halt dissent.

It is being reported that Wikileaks revelations exposing corruption within the government also played a role as well.