Tunisia's former ruling party said Thursday it had disbanded its top leadership committee because several of its members had resigned in the wake of the toppling of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) called on its activists to "continue to strengthen solidarity with the Tunisian people ... and work to build a new democracy which excludes no one."

Those who have left the party amid street demonstrations against its continued inclusion in a new unity government include interim president Foued Mebazaa and Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi.

Administrative Development Minister Zouheir M'dhaffer, an RCD member, said Thursday he had pulled out of the government "to preserve the supreme interests of the nation and in favour of the democratic transformation of the country."