Tunisia’s Ghannouchi: ‘Forces of chaos seek to dissolve parliament’

Tunisian Parliament Speaker, Rached Ghannouchi, warned of what he called “anarchist forces that seek to dissolve the parliament”, which is “a place for discussions and should remain in the realm of dialogue.”

Commenting on the wave of violence in parliament, Ghannouchi told the Tunisian television: “These violations are not new. It happened before when the Free Destourian bloc occupied the parliament for days, delayed the issuance of the Constitutional Court Law and disrupted the work of parliament’s committees more than once due to chaos. But the parliament has not been disrupted, will not be suspended, and it will carry on its legislative and supervisory role on a regular basis.”

The Ennahda leader added: “We condemn violence coming from any party, and I promised to investigate the matter and a conviction will be issued. We will hold each party responsible for its actions. We assure the Tunisian people that the parliament is fulfilling its duties and that they will have the general budget ready in accordance with constitutional deadlines on 10 December 2020.”

Ghannouchi also considered that “the forces pushing to dissolve parliament are anarchists and enemies of the revolution that want to belittle Tunisia’s achievements.”

READ: Tunisia: ‘2019 election led to rise of mafia regime,’ says Popular Movement

He asserted: “Tunisia is a success story. Just as it succeeded at the political level, in a way that dazzled the world, it will also succeed economically and socially, to provide decent and upscale services to every citizen in need of employment, education and healthcare… and it will have a better future.”

On Monday, Tunisia’s parliament witnessed a violent brawl between representatives of rival political parties which sparked public outrage and led to an online campaign calling on President Kais Saied to dissolve the assembly.

The scuffle broke out between members of the far-right Al-Karama Coalition and the centre-left Democratic Current bloc during a session within the Women’s Committee, overseeing issues related to peasant women labourers.

One member of parliament was left with a head injury, while another was unconscious as a result of the unrest.