Veteran Islamist Leader Elected Speaker of Tunisia’s Parliament
Veteran Islamist Leader Elected Speaker of Tunisia’s Parliament
Tunisia’s parliament chose the leader of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party for the powerful role of speaker, a sign his group may be able to gather enough support from across the North African nation’s fractured political scene to build a governing coalition.
Rashid Ghannouchi received 123 of the 217 votes cast by lawmakers Wednesday in the capital, Tunis. The 78-year-old ran for parliament for the first time in October although members of his party have held government positions since the 2011 uprising that unseated President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
That Ghannouchi managed to secure solid backing from other parties suggests Ennahda may still be able to win around some of its rivals to build a government after the 52 seats it won in elections left it far short of a majority. Prolonged coalition talks would mean further paralysis for the Arab Spring’s birthplace, where the failure of successive governments to revive the economy led Tunisians to choose outsiders such as President Kais Saied, an ex-law professor, at the ballot box.
Iyadh Elloumi, a parliamentarian with Heart of Tunisia, a secularist party that came second in the legislative vote and had vowed not to form a coalition with Ennahda, told Bloomberg his party’s members had voted for Ghannouchi. The new speaker said after his election that Ennahda would work with any party in parliament, Mosaique FM reported.
The presiding officer in Tunisia’s assembly is the next in line to the presidency, stepping in if the head of state is incapacitated. Ghannouchi said Ennahda will present a candidate for prime minister on Friday, and it could be someone from outside the party.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jihen Laghmari in Tunis at jlaghmari@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Hari Govind
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.