Tunisian Party Calls on President, Political Leaders to Step Down

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)
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Tunisian Party Calls on President, Political Leaders to Step Down

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)

Tunisia’s Al Chaab Yourid party, led by Najd al-Khalfaoui, called on President Kais Saied and various political leaders to resign and admit their failure to find a solution for the political impasse in the country.

In a statement, the party called on General Mohamed Salah al-Hamdi, who resigned from his position as presidential national security adviser, to run for the next presidential elections, scheduled for 2024.

However, the party criticized Hamdi’s neutral position in face of the imminent danger threatening the state.

It also condemned a number of retired military figures harboring political aspirations, who had submitted a message to the president, entitled “The Last Hope to Save the Country.”

The letter sparked widespread political debate about the possible involvement of the military in politics, after years of impartiality.

Khalfaoui said Tunisians “have observed the political rivalries within the illegitimate parliament after a report on the legislative and presidential elections revealed fundamental violations that affect the integrity and transparency of the electoral process.”

He called on all political parties, including the president, to allow the people to decide their future through early legislative and presidential elections, adding, however, that the electoral law must also be amended.

The party reminded the president of his pledge to the youth during his electoral campaign, “to return to its rightful owners” in the event of his failure to achieve their will and demands.

Al Chaab Yourid party was officially established last March and was accused of being close to the president because it has adopted a slogan similar to his campaign slogan.

However, Khalfaoui asserted that some presidential advisors were part of the party's founding council before their withdrawal, which means they have ended their affiliation with the presidency.



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.