Over 100 senior Ennahda members resign over the party’s ‘failed politics’

100 senior members from Tunisia’s Ennahda party resigned today, to denounce the party’s leadership inability to confront President Kais Saied’s power grab.

In a statement signed by 113 senior members of the party, the group blamed Ennahda for failing to create common action against President Kais Saied’s grab of executive power since June 25.

The statement blamed the heads of Tunisia’s biggest party for “ the flawed political decisions to lead the party,” in what has come to be the party’ biggest crisis.

Kais Saied announced on Wednesday that he will rule by decree and ignore parts of the constitution, strengthening the power of his office at the expense of the government and parliament.

The new measures, which were published in the official gazette, come almost two months after Saied’s initial power grab.
Prior to the new provisions, most of the executive power was in the hands of the government.

The new rules will also allow the president to appoint the Cabinet and see its policy direction and basic decisions without interference.
Saied’s initial moves to freeze parliament and strip MPs of their immunity were welcomed by many Tunisians, however some worry his powers could easily go too far.

Prior to his latest move, Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahdah party said on Tuesday that the presidents’ measures risked “dismantling” the state.
Several hundred protesters, many of them Ennahdha supporters, marched through central Tunis last weekend to demand a return to parliamentary democracy.

The President repeatedly insisted that his actions are in line with the country’s post-revolution constitution, which allows the head of state to take “exceptional measures” in case of an “imminent danger” to national security, a highly contentious reading of the constitution.

While Saied has yet to put a time limit on his seizure of power, the president said he would appoint a committee to help draft amendments to the 2014 constitution and establish a “true democracy in which the people are truly sovereign.”