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Ghannouchi: We are no longer in government but we are still in power

February 4, 2014 at 12:16 pm

The veteran leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party, Rashid Ghannouchi, has returned to his humble home in Tunisia to have some rest and receive guests after the end of the deliberations over the resignation of the coalition cabinet led by the party under Prime Minister Ali Larayedh.


“We are no longer in the government but we are still in power,” said Ghannouchi. “By agreeing that our government would resign, we have proved that we support a peaceful transfer of rule; we put Tunisia’s interests before any other interests or considerations, and we are not holding on to the offices of state.”

He noted that his party has made major concessions about many articles in the new constitution, especially regarding combating takfir (pronouncing others to be infidels), and by not insisting that Sharia (Islamic law) be stated in the constitution as the main source of legislation. Ghannouchi also said that Ennahda showed flexibility regarding the article covering equality between men and women. “Does that play into the Islamisation of Tunisia or the concept of a civil state?” he asked.

Larayedh’s government submitted its resignation last Thursday in the context of an agreement reached during the Tunisian national consensus discussions with the aim of helping the country to come out of the crises that it is facing.

The former minister of housing, Madhy Jumaa, is forming a new, independent government of technocrats to run the country’s affairs until the parliamentary and presidential elections are held.

Source: Raialyoum