Tunisia: After detaining its leader, Tunisia prohibits opposition office meetings
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza MAMOS Nigeria
All offices of the opposition Ennahda Islamist party have been barred from hosting meetings by Tunisian authorities, and the headquarters of the main opposition coalition Salvation Front has been shut down by police.
Ennahda is concerned that the move will open the door to the party’s ban. The party stated that it occurred one day after police detained the leader of Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi, the most well-known critic of President Kais Saied, and three senior officials.
According to party officials, shortly after Ghannouchi’s arrest early on Tuesday, police raided the party’s headquarters and evacuated everyone present to begin a lengthy search.
A reporter for Reuters reported that police had blocked access to the capital’s Salvation Front party headquarters, where a press conference was scheduled for Tuesday. The Salvation Front is the principal resistance alliance that incorporates Ennahda, little gatherings and activists. It routinely organizes demonstrations against Saied and charges him with orchestrating a coup. The majority of its leaders are incarcerated on conspiracy suspicions.
Sources said there had been a choice to boycott gatherings at Ennahda base camp all through Tunisia. The majority of Ennahda’s leaders, including Ghannouchi, were exiled after decades of banishment. However, the party became a major player following the 2011 revolution that brought democracy and participated in subsequent governments.
According to Riadh Chaibi, a senior Ennahda official, who spoke with Reuters, “it seems to be an attempt to ban the Ennahda and hit opposition.”
Police have this year kept driving political figures who blame Saied for an upset for his moves to close the chosen parliament in 2021 and rule by declaration prior to revising the constitution.
According to a representative of the interior ministry, the public prosecutor who was looking into “inciting statements” ordered the search of Ghannouchi’s home and brought him in for questioning.
At a meeting of the opposition on Saturday, Ghannouchi stated: Without Ennahda, political Islam, the left, or any other element, Tunisia is destined for civil war.
