Tunisian Lawmaker Says Ennahda Party's Rigidity Led to Mass Resignation of Members

CAIRO (Sputnik) - Tunisian party Ennahda is incapable of renewing from the inside or carrying out any reforms in the country, which entailed the resignation of more than 100 lawmakers from its ranks, Nasiba Ben Ali, a member of the Tunisian parliament, told Sputnik.

"We have tried many times to carry out internal reforms in the Ennahda movement, to renew the leadership... which has been in power for years and which, we believe, is no longer able to provide a renewal of the movement from within or improve the situation in the country," Ben Ali, who was among the lawmakers that decided to quit the party, said.

Ben Ali believes that even more people could follow the example of those who left. However, the group that resigned is not planning to form a new political force at the moment, the lawmaker said.

Supporters of Tunisia's President Kais Saied gather near the parliament building in Tunis, Tunisia, July 26, 2021.

© REUTERS / ZOUBEIR SOUISSI

On Saturday, 113 members of the Islamist party Ennahda said they were quitting because of the erroneous actions of the party leadership. The resignation came shortly after President Kais Saied decreed that the parliament would remain suspended and legislative texts would now take the form of decrees promulgated by the president. Those who left the party said that Ennahda was incapable of resisting the "threat of despotism" that can be seen in the president's decisions.

During July's mass protests against the parliament and Ennahda, the president suspended the work of the legislature for 30 days and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and several ministers. Saied said he was temporarily assuming the executive role and would soon appoint a new prime minister. On 24 August, the president extended the parliament's suspension.