Tunisian MPs Warn of Ghannouchi's Confidence Withdrawal Failure

Three parliamentary blocs in the Tunisian House of Representatives warned against attempting to thwart the session devoted to voting on the petition to withdraw confidence from Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi on Thursday.

The Democratic Bloc, the Reform and "Long live Tunisia", in a joint statement, blamed the House of Representatives for the conduct of the session and full commitment to the application of the internal system, denouncing what it called pressure on a number of deputies to influence their vote.

[caption id="attachment_68693" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Tunisian Parliament Speaker Ghannouchi[/caption]

MP Badr al-Din al-Qamudi said in an interview with "Sky News Arabia", that the first deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Samira Al-Shawashy, received threats during the Tuesday session. Thus, she fell ill and was subsequently transferred to the hospital.

He added that the "Ennahda Movement" is afraid of opening the door for discussion in the session in anticipation of the impact of the discussions on the course of the vote.

In the same context, the Secretary-General of the People's Movement, Zuhair al-Maghzawi, confirmed that "Ennahda Movement" is exerting pressure on MPs to withdraw their signatures in an attempt to cancel the Thursday session.