Tahya Tounes party – founded recently – elected Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed as its president, confirming expectations of his leadership months before parliamentary and presidential elections.
The party’s national council meeting on Saturday resulted in electing Chahed as a president and Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) head Kamel Morjane as a vice president of the national council. This introduces for the stage of preparing Chahed for presidential elections scheduled on Nov. 17 and parliamentary elections scheduled on Oct. in 2019.
Through this decision, the party overcame the shaky ties with Chahed. Tahya Tounes is seeking an electoral weight it lacked during the first electoral process it took part in.
It ranked eighth in the partial municipal elections held in Souk Jedid, Sidi Bou Zid. It only gained one municipal seat out of the 18 parliamentary seats, raising questions on its political weight in the coming elections.
Tahya Tounes leaders revealed that it aims to achieve a victory that exceeds 120 parliamentary seats and a majority that permits it to rule without forming alliances with political parties mainly Ennahda Movement.
During the meeting, Secretary-General Selim Azzabi launched the consultations for electoral lists – the council also approved a document to merge Constitutional Democratic Rally in Tahya Tounes. Observers see that Chahed will benefit from the merger, especially on the level of ensuring votes.
Notably, Tahya Tounes is represented in the Tunisian parliament with the National Coalition bloc of 44 deputies. The main purpose of this bloc is to overcome the obstacles hindering reforms on the legal and execution level and to approve pending legal projects, as well as fight corruption.
