There’s no contact between Ghannouchi and Saied: adviser says

Riad Al-Shuaibi, the adviser to the leader of the Ennahda movement and member of the National Salvation Front, yesterday denied reports of the existence of “contacts” between the leader of the movement, Rached Ghannouchi, and President Kais Saied. He criticised Saied’s attempt to target the symbols of the democratic transition because of their opposition to his “coup”.

Social media pages had talked about Ghannouchi’s attempt to “contact” Saied, noting that he had sent him a letter through one of the intermediaries that included an offer or invitation for “reconciliation”.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Al-Shuaibi said: “There is no direct or indirect contact between Ghannouchi and Saied, and the news about a message sent by Ghannouchi to Saied is one of the fabrications that fall under media campaigns on social media platforms.”

Ghannouchi had called on Saied to return to the “straight path”. He also pointed out that the opposition would continue the struggle until toppling the dictatorship in the country.

Saied has held nearly total power since 25 July 2021 when he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority citing a national emergency.

He appointed a prime minister on 29 September of the same year and a government has since been formed. In December, Saied announced that a referendum will be held on 25 July to consider ‘constitutional reforms’ and elections would follow in December 2022.

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