Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Ennahda, which has Tunisian President Kais Saied of a coup, called for a national dialogue to resolve the current political upheaval in the country, a press release received by Sputnik said on Tuesday
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2021) Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Ennahda, which has Tunisian President Kais Saied of a coup, called for a national dialogue to resolve the current political upheaval in the country, a press release received by Sputnik said on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Saied suspended the parliament for thirty days and froze the legal immunity of lawmakers following mass anti-government protests. He also dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, a member of the Ennahda party, and banned Parliamentary Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, heading the party, from entering the parliament building. On Monday, Ennahda, the largest political party in the Tunisian parliament, labeled Saied's move unconstitutional and equal to a coup.
"The party is fully aware of protests that swept across the country, consistence of protesters' socio-economic and political demands with the law and the danger of pandemic, threatening Tunisia. These problems are top priority for the country and they require national dialogue and social choices that may help get Tunisia out of the crisis," the statement read.
The Tunisian constitution provides for a sharing of executive power between president, prime minister and parliament. The president and the parliament were elected in separate votes in 2019, while the prime minister took his office last summer. Since then there have been political disputes between Saied and Mechichi, with COVID-19 exacerbating the wrangling. Ennahda holds 52 out of 217 seats in parliament, which is still less than a quarter. In the fragmented Tunisian parliament no party has more than 25% of seats, which adds to the political turmoil.
