Ghannouchi: Ennahda party will not be dragged into division

The Islamic Ennahda party leader, Rashed Ghannouchi ruled out on Sunday the possibility of a division inside the party, after the Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali decided to remove the Islamists from the sovereign ministries and to form a technocratic cabinet.           

Rashed Ghannouchi told “al-Khabar” Newspaper that his party is holding on to its institutions and its unity, despite the divergence in points of view between officials within the party.

On the other hand, Ghannouchi rejected the justifications presented by the party’s secretary general regarding the formation of a technocratic cabinet which includes non-partisan, “national competencies”.  

Separately, the secular party of Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki withdrew its three ministers from the Islamist-led government on Sunday, saying its demands for cabinet changes had not been met.    

The decision by Marzouki's Congress for the Republic Party deals a further blow to Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali's government, already reeling from last week's assassination of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid.    

"We have been saying for a week that if the foreign and justice ministers were not changed, we would withdraw from the government," party official Ben Amor told Reuters.


LBCI/REUTERS