Tunisia's Ghannouchi: 'President's Role is Symbolic'

In new controversial statements that deepen dispute with the Tunisian president, Parliament Speaker and Leader of Ennahda movement Rached Ghannouchi said that the role of President Kais Saied is symbolic.

Commenting on Saied’s rejection of the cabinet reshuffle made by Prime Minister Hichem El Mechichi over corruption charges pursuing a number of ministers, Ghannouchi said “We are however in a parliamentary system, and the role of the President of the Republic is purely symbolic.”

Saied objects to the presence of four new ministers in the government, some of whom are persecuted by suspicions of corruption and conflict of interests. Hence, the president refused to receive them to take the constitutional oath before assuming their duties. 

The president’s rejection was revealed five days after the ministerial reshuffle obtained the confidence of the parliamentary majority, which plunged the country into a constitutional crisis and a conflict of powers between the three presidencies. Thus, this crisis threatens to paralyze the country's governing institutions.

However, Ghannouchi defended, in a virtual interview on Saturday evening via Zoom, the new ministers in the Mechichi government, saying that "the accusation of corruption is a judgment issued by the judiciary," considering that the accusations against them "are merely ploys aimed at bringing down the cabinet reshuffle."

In this context, Ghannouchi criticized the Tunisian president, saying, "He refuses to accept the oath of the new ministers, and therefore he rejects the ministerial reshuffle and believes that he has the right to accept some ministers and reject others."

He affirmed that "Tunisia has a parliamentary system, and the role of the head of state is a symbolic role, not a constructive one,” pointing out that the issue of governance and the cabinet belongs to “the ruling party and is primarily the responsibility of the government."

Moreover, Ghannouchi acknowledged that Tunisia is experiencing the difficulty of mixing the presidential and parliamentary systems, and he proposed that the political system be changed.

It is noteworthy that the Constitutional Court is competent to settle disputes related to the specialists of the heads of the republic and the government. During the past years, the Parliament has failed on several occasions to approve the cabinet’s formation due to the political parties' disagreements over its members.

The relationship between Ghannouchi and Saied witnessed several previous tensions, and the head of Ennahda Movement had previously acknowledged the existence of a "violent struggle" between the presidential and parliamentary systems in the country.

Whereas, last May, the Tunisian president directed veiled criticism of Ennahda’s external moves, saying: “Tunisia is one state with one president at home and abroad.”