Tunisian coalition parties call for removal of parliamentary speaker
At least five Tunisian parties plan to request a vote of no confidence in parliamentary speaker Rached Ghannouchi, who was accused of making decisions that serve partisan interests.
Members of his Ennahda party called for a new government to be formed, escalating the political crisis in the country.
The no-confidence motion poses the biggest challenge yet to Ennahda, which first took power after the Arab uprisings in 2011, but was forced to step down two years later after a series of protests.
Pressure on the government mounted in recent weeks after opponents called for Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh to resign over an alleged conflict of interest.
On Sunday, Ennahda, the main party in the ruling coalition, said it supported calls to change the government.
Imed Khmiri, a senior party official, said the government had lost credibility because of the claims against the prime minister.
Last month, an independent member of parliament published documents that suggested companies in which Mr Fakhfakh owned shares won deals from the state worth $15 million (Dh55.1m).
Mr Fakhfakh rejected the accusations of corruption. Mohammed Ammar from the Attayar party said a group of parliamentary blocs agreed to start the process of expressing a lack of confidence in Mr Ghannouchi.
These blocs include the Attayar, Tahya Tounes, Achaab and Reform Front parties, which are in the coalition with Ennahda.
The Free Constitutional party led by Abir Moussi campaigned to dismiss Mr Ghannouchi for weeks.
Mr Moussi’s party accused Mr Ghannouchi of serving the Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda and countries such as Turkey and Qatar, claims he rejected.
Procedures for withdrawing confidence require the signatures of 73 members of the house for it to be put to a public vote and 109 politicians will need to vote for no-confidence for it succeed.