Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Ennahda, the biggest party in the parliament, decided on Wednesday to withdraw confidence from the government, a senior official in Ennahda told Reuters. Ennahda’s move will deepen the political crisis engulfing Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfkah, whom Ennahda says has lost credibility due to an alleged conflict of interest. Ennahda with 54 lawmakers needs 109 votes in parliament to withdraw confidence and will seek support for the motion from its two allies, the Karama and Heart of Tunisia parties. "We adopted the option to withdraw confidence from the prime minister and mandates the party leader to follow up on the implementation of the decision'", said Ennahda official Imed Khmiri. An independent member of parliament published documents last month indicating that the prime minister owns shares in companies that had won deals worth 44 million dinars ($15 million) from the state.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 15, 2020 00:22 UTC