Tunisia’s parliament speaker and veteran leader of the Ennahda Movement, Rached Ghannouchi, narrowly survived a confidence vote after opposition lawmakers failed to gather enough no-confidence votes to overthrow him.
Ghannouchi’s slim margin of victory may only deepen the country's political divisions after the resignation of the prime minister and the opposition vowing to continue to try to remove Ghannouchi from office.
Some 97 members of parliament on Thursday voted against Ghannouchi, falling short of the 109 needed to overthrow him. Only 133 MPs voted while 84 lawmakers abstained from attending the voting session, including Ghannouchi and his first deputy Samira al-Shawashi.
The vote took place after a tumultuous session, which was broadcast by the Tunisian media, and during which deputies from different political blocs exchanged strong accusations. Some blamed the stalling of the normal functioning of parliament and its committees on Ghannouchi and the Ennahda party, and the parties allied with it like the Heart of Tunisia and the Karama and the Future coalition blocs.
Others blamed the stumbling of parliament on the Free Destourian Party and its leader Abir Moussi and their allies in the battle to overthrow Ghannouchi, especially the following parties: the Democratic Current led by Mohamed Abbou, People's Movement led by Zuhair al-Meghzawi and Tahya Tounes headed by ex-PM Youssef Chahed.
“A total of 133 members of parliament took part in the vote. 97 deputies voted against Ghannouchi, 16 voted in favor of him, and 18 votes were annulled,” said the second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tarek Fetiti at a plenary session.
Fetiti confirmed that the winner of the vote is democracy in Tunisia and the choice to resolve disputes among Tunisians through political means and voting, not violence.
The plenary session, which was supposed to be conducted without debate to hold a vote by secret ballot, took place in a heated atmosphere, marked by altercations and exchange of accusations between deputies.