Tunisian Lawmakers Sign Petition to Unseat the Speaker


Tunisia's elected president Kais Saied speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the Assembly of People's Representatives in Tunis (File photo: Reuters)
Tunisia's elected president Kais Saied speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the Assembly of People's Representatives in Tunis (File photo: Reuters)
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Tunisian Lawmakers Sign Petition to Unseat the Speaker


Tunisia's elected president Kais Saied speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the Assembly of People's Representatives in Tunis (File photo: Reuters)
Tunisia's elected president Kais Saied speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the Assembly of People's Representatives in Tunis (File photo: Reuters)

Some 76 Tunisian lawmakers signed a petition seeking to unseat Speaker and head of Islamist Ennahda movement Rached Ghannouchi.

The representatives belong to major parliamentary blocs, including the National Reform Bloc, the Democratic Current, the People's Movement, the Heart of Tunisia party, and 13 independents.

The 76 signatures are sufficient to start the procedures for withdrawing confidence from the Speaker, and 109 votes to unseat him.

President Kais Saied met with ten deputies from across the political spectrum, including representatives from Ennahda, Tahya Tounes, Democratic Current, the People’s movement, and the independents.

Observers interpreted the meeting as the President's attempt to back down from his previous position rejecting the cabinet reshuffle.

Saied toured this week several of the capital’s neighborhoods to prove that he is “the president of all Tunisians and is not afraid to confront the people.”

The President is trying to win back the people's support after a slight decline in popularity following the incident of the “poisoned envelope,” when a suspicious package arrived at Carthage Palace.

Observers believe the President’s meeting with a number of lawmakers may be an indication that he accepts negotiations to end the constitutional crisis.

Last month, parliament approved a cabinet reshuffle put forward by Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi with 11 new ministers, which was rejected by Saied saying four of them were believed to be involved in corruption cases.

A top official of Heart of Tunisia Iyadh Elloumi called for the initiation of procedures to dismiss the President, accusing him of “grossly violating the constitution” in his refusal to hold the constitutional oath for the new ministers.

Elloumi indicated that Saied created the current crisis in a populist move to win voters over after a decline in his popularity in the recent survey, accusing him of paralyzing state institutions by not activating a constitutional procedure.

In an attempt to end the crisis, the Prime Minister held a meeting with a number of law experts and professors, seeking their advice regarding the constitutional crisis resulting from the cabinet reshuffle, and the President’s rejection to swear them in.

Mechichi requested the consultation of the administrative court, which, according to observers, exacerbated the deep disagreement between the two heads of the executive authority.



Abbas Urges Hamas to Stop Giving Israel ‘Excuses’ in Gaza

A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
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Abbas Urges Hamas to Stop Giving Israel ‘Excuses’ in Gaza

A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the Hamas group Tuesday to stop giving Israel "excuses" to keep up its devastating offensive in Gaza.

Israel resumed major strikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday that 58 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.

In a statement, the Ramallah-based Palestinian presidency called on Hamas to "cease making any irresponsible decisions to spare our people the consequences of (the Israeli) aggression".

The statement pointed to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. "Stop giving the occupation any excuses to continue its genocide," it said.

It called on Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, to "adhere to the official Palestinian position and the Arab initiatives".

French President Emmanuel Macron met with King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi of Egypt in Cairo Monday, where they called for Abbas's Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza after a ceasefire, and for Hamas to have no role in post-war governance.

The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Abbas's Fatah movement, Hamas's longtime rival.

At their Cairo meeting, the three leaders called for an "immediate return" to the two-month ceasefire that effectively ended in March.

In its statement, the Palestinian presidency also denounced a newly established Israeli corridor in south Gaza as a violation of international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the creation of the Morag axis between the south Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah last week.

He presented the axis as a new Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt that the Israeli army has already cleared of buildings.

Witnesses told AFP Tuesday that Israeli forces were present on the axis, and had set up a surveillance crane equipped with a machine gun at one of its crossroads.