Tunisia's Ennahda says will not recognise new Parliament

Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi’s deputy Ali Laarayedh talks to press in front of the Anti-Terrorism Branch [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]

Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement said, Monday, it will not recognise the legitimacy of the country’s new Parliament, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The newly-elected Parliament convened for the first time in the capital, Tunis, on Monday.

In a statement, Ennahda said it “will not recognise a Parliament that lacks legitimacy emanated from elections that were boycotted by more than 90 per cent of Tunisians”.

The Movement said it still sticks to the 2014 Constitution and considers it “the sole source of legitimacy”, renewing its rejection of “unilateral decisions taken by the de facto authority”.

Ennahda had 53 seats in the 217-seat member Parliament, dissolved by President Kais Saied in 2021.

Monday’s session was held 20 months after Saied suspended the former parliament, sacked the Prime Minister and assumed executive authority, in a move decried by opponents as a “coup”.

Saied insists that his measures were meant to “save” the country after years of crisis.

READ: Tunisia: Ennahda condemns detention of senior members

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