The arrest of the leader of the Heart of Tunisia party has raised many questions on the extent to which Hichem Mechichi’s government will last.
This comes in light of concerns from the dissociation of the tripartite parliamentary front, which consists of Ennahda, Heart of Tunisia, and al-Karama coalition.
Nabil Karoui, Ennahda Movement’s main ally, was rearrested on Thursday over money laundering and tax evasion.
Opposition parties said on Friday that the front’s loss of Heart of Tunisia will definitely affect Mechichi’s government, and thus the fate of Ennahda’s Head and Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi.
Several observers of Tunisia’s political affairs have wondered about the timing of Karoui’s arrest, which came only one day after President Kais Saied received the former secretary-general of the Democratic Current, Mohamed Abbou.
Abbou is one of the most political figures that faced corruption and based their political rhetoric during the latest parliamentary and presidential elections on this matter.
Ennahda and its leader have been facing the opposition democratic bloc (38 deputies).
The bloc consists of Abbou’s Democratic Current, and Zuhair al-Maghzawi,’s People's Movement party, which announced a sit-in at the parliament headquarters two weeks ago demanding Ghannouchi to issue a statement condemning violence and hate rhetoric in parliament.
Head of Tunisia’s opposition Free Destourian Party Abir Moussa (17 deputies) has been leading a revolution to defeat the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
She accused Ennahda of serving as a cover for extremism and not fighting against violence.
Meanwhile, Saied decided to extend the state of emergency throughout Tunisia starting Saturday until June 23, 2021.
His decision came a few days after Abbou called for army deployment to control the growing popular protests.
Heart of Tunisia’s political bureau called on the party’s parliamentary bloc and all its members to remain calm and sober, continue their mission, assume the responsibility entrusted to them by voters, work to complete the party’s program, abide by its pledges and respect the state institutions, the republican system, and the constitution.
It, however, accused some political parties of resorting to judicial prosecutions against party leaders instead of political competition based on programs and ideas during this electoral period.
