The political crisis in Tunisia worsened, with Prime Minister Elias Al-Fakhfakh hinting that the Ennahda ministers be excluded from the government, after he and the head of state rejected the movement's call to change the government due to suspicions of financial corruption around its president.
And the traps announced Monday in a statement that he intends to make an amendment to the composition of his government in the coming days to suit the higher interest of the country, as he put it.
He accused the Ennahda Movement, the largest party in the ruling coalition and has 6 ministers and 54 seats in Parliament out of a total of 217 seats, of preparing for a scene he described as a dilemma, serving its partisan interests, and violating the principle of government solidarity.
He considered Al-Nahda’s call to form a new government to evade the movement’s obligations and pledges with its coalition partners in the midst of what it described as national efforts to save the country and the country's exhausted economy, and described its position as a “flagrant violation and a disregard for stability.”
The Prime Minister’s statement comes in response to the position of the Al-Nahda Movement’s Shura Council, which adopted a resolution that mandated the movement’s leader, Rashid Ghannouchi, to hold consultations with President Qais Saeed and political forces and social organizations, in order to form a new government because of suspicions of conflicts of interest that had been raised weeks ago about the trap in possession of shares In companies that deal with the state commercially, and deals with millions of dollars in deals, which is prohibited by law.
Hours before the trap statement, President Saeed, in turn, responded to the Ennahda movement’s call for his refusal to hold any consultations to change the government, and considered that this step was not compatible with the text of the constitution.
He pointed out that entering into consultations comes only after specific constitutional steps such as the Prime Minister submitting his resignation or directing a blame list against him in Parliament.
Since February 27, the traps have been chaired by a fragile government coalition that includes 4 main parties and a parliamentary bloc, Al-Nahda (Islamist, 54 deputies from 217), the Democratic Movement (Social Democratic, 22), the People's Movement (Nasseri, 14), the Movement Long live Tunisia (liberal, 14), National Reform Bloc (independents and liberal parties, 16).
The Renaissance decision The President of the Renaissance Shura Council Abdul Karim al-Harouni said Monday that the Council recognized that it is not possible to continue with a government chasing its president on suspicion of a conflict of interest.
Al-Harouni added that the decision of the Shura Council, which is the supreme authority within the party, came after a meeting that brought together the leader of the movement Rashid al-Ghannushi and President Qais Saeed, and described the meeting as positive, indicating that it was intended to consult to get out of the crisis.
He added that talking about early elections is premature, and Al-Harouni had indicated earlier that a report was presented to the Shura Council meeting that reveals that the position of the prime minister does not help to get out of the current difficult situation.
The Nahda movement reluctantly accepted the choice of the head of state for traps to lead the current government formation, knowing that the prime minister does not have a party support, as his party did not obtain any of the seats in Parliament in the past legislative elections.
In the current political crisis, it appeared that a number of the ruling coalition parties, due to their differences with the Ennahda Movement, aligned with the traps.
In this context, the Minister of Governance and Anti-Corruption, Mohamed Abbou, told Tunisian television, that his party, the Democratic Current in the coalition, is pushing towards the exit of the Ennahda movement from the government.
This comes while 4 parliamentary blocs said that they have collected the signatures necessary to start the procedures to withdraw confidence from Parliament Speaker Rashid al-Ghannushi (head of the Renaissance Movement) on the pretext of mismanagement of parliament.
Referral
in the meantime, the Anti - Corruption Commission in Tunisia to refer the documents regarding the declaration of interests and gains of the Prime Minister elyes fakhfakh announced to the public prosecutor in the competent judicial institution of financial corruption issues, known as the economic and financial pole judicial.
In a statement on Monday, the commission confirmed the referral of documents and data to the presidency of the parliament regarding a general deal, one of which is a company in which the prime minister, Elias Al-Fakhfakh, owns shares.
A parliamentary committee had been formed earlier, at the initiative of the heart groups of Tunisia and the Dignity Coalition, which were opposed to the investigation of suspicions of conflicts of interest.
For his part, Al-Fakhdakh denied these charges, confirming that he voluntarily gave up his shares in these companies, and that the deals that were concluded were precedent to assuming his duties at the head of the Tunisian government.