Ghannouchi Survives No-Confidence Vote

A side of Thursday's no-confidence session against Tunisia's Ghannouchi in Parliament | EPA
A side of Thursday's no-confidence session against Tunisia's Ghannouchi in Parliament | EPA
TT

Ghannouchi Survives No-Confidence Vote

A side of Thursday's no-confidence session against Tunisia's Ghannouchi in Parliament | EPA
A side of Thursday's no-confidence session against Tunisia's Ghannouchi in Parliament | EPA

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.



Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
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Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.