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Tunisia sets Hizb ut-Tahrir deadline to conform to constitution

July 3, 2015 at 1:29 pm

The Tunisian government has given Hizb ut-Tahrir a deadline to complete the legal procedures necessary for bringing its basic law into conformity with the constitution.

Tunisian local radio station Shems FM yesterday quoted Kamel Jendoubi, the minister to the head of government in charge of relations with the constitutional institutions and civil society, as saying that the government would give Hizb ul-Tahrir a deadline to complete the legal procedures enabling it to issue a basic law to regulate its activities.

Hizb ut-Tahrir’s issue was brought to the forefront in Tunisia after a terrorist attack took place on Friday in the resort city of Sousse, resulting in the death of dozens of foreign tourists.

During a visit to the scene, President Beji Caid Essebsi indicated that he would call on the government to review the parties’ law, referring to the possibility of dissolving parties that were not in line with the constitution.

Hizb ut-Tahrir’s spokesman Reda Bel-Hajj accused the president of going beyond his powers. “Essebsi is not [legally] authorised to intervene in political parties, which is the government’s prerogative,” Bel-Hajj said.