Opposition Party Slams Attempts to Exclude Tunisian President from Political Scene

Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi (AFP)
Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi (AFP)
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Opposition Party Slams Attempts to Exclude Tunisian President from Political Scene

Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi (AFP)
Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi (AFP)

The People's Movement in Tunisia will confront all attempts to isolate and exclude Tunisian President Kais Saied from the political scene, its head Zouhair Maghzaoui has affirmed.

Maghzaoui said in radio statements that the battle with some influential political parties “is fabricated and aims at exerting additional pressure on Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi.”

He warned of repeated blackmailing attempts against former PMs in the past years, denying accusations that the opposition has been trying to take over the parliament by preparing to form a new alliance.

Maghzaoui also slammed statements by Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, who stressed the parliament’s need to restore the political initiative in a modified parliamentary system.

“Attempts to undermine and weaken the parliament are taking place from within,” Ghannouchi noted.

Meanwhile, Head of the opposition Democratic Current Hichem Ajbouni said his party will hold a meeting on Sunday in the capital, Tunis.

It will be attended by leaders of the National Council and the political and executive bureau and members of the parliamentary bloc to discuss the party’s situation.

They will discuss several issues, including nominating candidates to fill the vacancy of the secretary general’s post in the National Council, following Mohamed Abbou’s resignation on Sep.2.

According to Ajbouni, former Education Minister Mohamed Hamdi has been designated as deputy secretary general of the party’s administration until the National Council convenes in the first week of October to elect a new secretary general.

Ajbouni pointed out that Sunday’s meeting will tackle future priorities of the parliamentary work, which mainly focuses on establishing the Constitutional Court, reviewing the parliament's internal system and amending the electoral law.

Possible political alliances and parliamentary fronts during the next parliamentary round will also be discussed.

According to sources close to the Democratic Current, part of the discussions will focus on launching an initiative to form a parliamentary coalition to face the one headed by Ennahda, Heart of Tunisia, and Al-Karama coalition (with 82MPs).

Sources affirmed that this coalition is aimed at creating balance in the political and parliamentary scenes and preparing for an exceptional national council session on October 3 and 4.



UN: Israel's War Plans Threaten 'Continued Existence' of Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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UN: Israel's War Plans Threaten 'Continued Existence' of Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The UN rights chief voiced deepened concerns Wednesday that Israel's plans to expand its offensive in Gaza aim to create conditions threatening Palestinians' "continued existence" in the territory.

Israel's military has called up tens of thousands of reservists for an expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, which an official said would entail the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory.

"Israel's reported plans to forcibly transfer Gaza's population to a small area in the south of the Strip and threats by Israeli officials to deport Palestinians outside of Gaza further aggravate concerns that Israel's actions are aimed at inflicting on Palestinians conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza as a group," Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

"There is no reason to believe that doubling down on military strategies, which, for a year and eight months, have not led to a durable resolution, including the release of all hostages, will now succeed," he said.

"Instead, expanding the offensive on Gaza will almost certainly cause further mass displacement, more deaths and injuries of innocent civilians, and the destruction of Gaza's little remaining infrastructure."

Nearly all of the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A more than two-month Israeli blockade on all aid into Gaza has worsened the humanitarian crisis.

According to AFP, Turk warned that stepping up the Israeli offensive "would only compound the misery and suffering inflicted by the complete blockade on the entry of basic goods for almost nine weeks now".

"Gaza's residents have already been deprived of all lifesaving necessities, particularly food, with relentless Israeli attacks on community kitchens and those trying to maintain a minimum of law and order," he said.

"Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime," Turk said, adding that "the only lasting solution to this crisis lies through full compliance with international law".

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 2,507 people had been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in mid-March, bringing the overall death toll from the war to 52,615.