Tunisia Opposition Calls for Removing Ennahda to End Constitutional Crisis

Leader of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, Speaker Rached Ghannouchi. (Reuters file photo)
Leader of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, Speaker Rached Ghannouchi. (Reuters file photo)
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Tunisia Opposition Calls for Removing Ennahda to End Constitutional Crisis

Leader of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, Speaker Rached Ghannouchi. (Reuters file photo)
Leader of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, Speaker Rached Ghannouchi. (Reuters file photo)

Tunisia’s opposition Popular Current called upon President Kais Saeid to announce a roadmap to save the country, stressing that removing the Islamist Ennahda Movement will end the constitutional crisis.

Popular Current Secretary-General, Zouheir Hamdi, remarked that the president has succeeded in disrupting the plans of Ennahda and “its mafia” allies.

Hamdi described Ennahda as the “greatest threat to the country and its strategic interests,” blaming the movement for the current situation in Tunisia.

The opposition is proposing a number of suggestions to resolve the political and constitutional crisis that has gripped the country for four months, including holding early elections, overthrowing the government of Hichem Mechichi, amending the constitution and reviewing the electoral law.

Hamdi proposed a roadmap that recommends removing the government and forming a transitional one, stressing that the people are not ready to return to the scenario of previous governments in terms of composition and programs.

The roadmap deals with major issues, such as debt, the central bank law, the relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the trade balance deficit, smuggling and tax evasion.

Hamdi called on Saeid to adopt the roadmap by launching consultations after the departure of Mechichi, and the dissolution of the parliament, whose speaker is Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda Movement.

The consultations would discuss amending the constitution, changing the electoral law and submitting it for a referendum.

Meanwhile, Ennahda’s Shura Council warned against any action that undermines the values of the 2011 revolution, rejecting “unilateral rule” - a reference to Saied’s speech during the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the formation of the Internal Security Forces.

Saied had said that his constitutional control of the military extended to the internal security forces. The statement was seen as part of a wider power struggle between him, parliament and the prime minister.

The Shura asserted its support to the government, noting that the president’s obstruction of the ministerial reshuffle damaged the cabinet’s work and disrupted the state.

It called on the president and prime minister to take appropriate and practical steps to end the crisis.

The president should put the health and economic crisis at the top of the state's priorities and avoid individual interpretations of the constitution that disrupts the interests of the state and society, according to the council.



Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security charges pending a hearing, Israel's attorney general has said, for allegedly leaking top secret military information during Israel's war in Gaza.

Netanyahu's close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied any wrongdoing in the case, which legal authorities began investigating in late 2024.

Netanyahu has described probes against Urich and other aides as politically motivated and on Monday said that Urich had not harmed state security. Urich's attorneys said the charges were baseless and that their client's innocence would be proven beyond doubt, reported Reuters.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement late on Sunday that Urich and another aide had extracted secret information from the Israeli military and leaked it to German newspaper Bild.

Their intent, she said, was to shape public opinion of Netanyahu and influence the discourse about the slaying of six Israeli hostages by their Palestinian captors in Gaza in late August 2024.

The hostages' deaths sparked mass protests in Israel and outraged hostages' families, who accused Netanyahu of torpedoing ceasefire talks that had faltered in the preceding weeks for political reasons.

Netanyahu vehemently denies this. He has repeatedly said that Hamas was to blame for the talks collapsing, while the group has said it was Israel's fault no deal had been reached.

Four of the six slain hostages had been on the list of more than 30 captives that Hamas was set to free if a ceasefire had been reached, according to a defense official at the time.

The Bild article in question was published days after the hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza. It outlined Hamas' negotiation strategy in the indirect ceasefire talks and largely corresponded with Netanyahu's allegations against the militant group over the deadlock.

Bild said after the investigation was announced that it does not comment on its sources and that its article relied on authentic documents. The newspaper did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

A two-month ceasefire was reached in January this year and included the release of 38 hostages before Israel resumed attacks in Gaza. The sides are presently engaged in indirect negotiations in Doha, aimed at reaching another truce.

In his statement on Monday, Netanyahu said Baharav-Miara's announcement was "appalling" and that its timing raised serious questions.

Netanyahu's government has for months been seeking the dismissal of Baharav-Miara. The attorney general, appointed by the previous government, has sparred with Netanyahu's cabinet over the legality of some of its policies.