Tensions apparently brewing between presidency, parliament in Tunisia

Muazz Mohamed

Relations are apparently deteriorating between Tunisian President Kais Saied and Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi who is the head of the Ennahda Movement and Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia.

This is particularly true after Saied did not invite Ghannouchi to a meeting with Prime Minister

Elyes Fakhfakh and the ministers of defense, justice and foreign affairs on Libya on April 30.

Ghannouchi’s absence from the meeting raised questions on his relations with the Tunisian president. There is speculation also on the presence of tension between the two men.

Following his meeting with the prime minister and the aforementioned ministers, Saied issued a statement in which he said that his country had been most affected by the turmoil in neighboring Libya.

The international community, he said, has to put these harms into account.

President Saied also formed a presidential panel to coordinate action and prepare for any emergency that could arise in the future.

Nevertheless, he did not include the parliament speaker in the panel’s formation, even as he is a member of the National Security Council.

Turkey present

Ennahda has been trying to make the Tunisian parliament approve two trade deals with both Qatar and Turkey, even as the Tunisian opposition describes the deals as “colonialist.”

The position of the opposition parties to the deals forced the parliament speaker to postpone debates on them.

Ghannouchi received a phone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a few days ago. Some people attribute President Saied’s decision to prevent Ghannouchi from attending the meeting on Libya to this call. Saied is apparently of the view that the parliament speaker is interfering in Tunisia’s foreign relations which should be the preserve of the presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ennahda is an ally of Turkey which backs the Government of National Accord in Libya.

However, the view inside the Tunisian presidency is that taking sides with one party of the Libyan conflict would not serve Tunisia’s interests.