Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Tunis - Mongi Saidani

Tunisian Parties Call For Dissolution of Parliament, Withdrawal of Confidence from Speaker

President Kais Saeid meets with his South Korea's Interior minister on Tuesday. (dpa)

The Free Destourian Party urged President Kais Saeid to take urgent action to dissolve the parliament and call on lawmakers to sign a petition to withdraw confidence from Speaker Rached Ghannouchi.

On Monday, the parliament office announced that the parliament was going to hold its plenary sessions, in defiance of Saeid's suspension of the legislature.

The parliament said it wanted to meet to address the serious financial, economic, and social crisis in the country.

Head of the Free Destourian Party Abir Moussi said the petition needs the approval of 109 deputies to dissolve parliament and call for early legislative elections.

She added lawmakers would not reject Saeid's invitation if he took a step toward dismissing Ghannouchi, dissolving parliament, and holding the elections.

Moussi filed a judicial complaint to invalidate the decisions of the frozen parliament and stop the plenary sessions scheduled to begin Wednesday.

She warned that going ahead with the meetings would mark a dangerous precedent in the country given the president's order to suspend parliament in July last year.

Saeid had criticized Ghannouchi's call for parliament to convene. Speaking a National Security Council meeting, he stressed that the law must be respected, noting that "the so-called 'virtual meeting' is illegal because the assembly is frozen."

"The State will only recover through an independent judiciary, which is being challenged by those who desperately trying to stage a coup," charged the president.

Saeid stressed that the Tunisian state is not a "puppet" to be toyed with by national and foreign entities.

He warned against attempts to convene the suspended parliament, saying the state's forces and institutions will confront those who want to tamper with the state and push Tunisians to conflict.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.