Tunisia-Ghannouchi: “President of the republic has no right to reject ministers approved by parliament”

In an interview with Al-Jazeera.net, house speaker and Ennahdha leader Rached Ghannouchi addressed the constitutional crisis of the swearing-in of new ministers.

Ghannouchi stated that the House of People’s Representatives accomplished its duty by giving confidence to the ministers introduced as part of the cabinet reshuffle and that the President of the Republic was consequently to set a date for the oath.

“It is told that the President of the Republic has reservations concerning some of the ministers due to suspicion of corruption or conflict of interest. Although the constitution does not grant him the right to decline ministers who have won a majority vote in parliament, we have not been notified of the details of these reservations or of the ministers concerned, ”he revealed.

“Of course, only the judiciary has the jurisdiction to conclude whether or not the corruption charges are valid, and the accused is innocent until proven guilty. In any case, we hope that a resolution will be located within the framework of the constitution with the President of the Republic so that the administration can serve the Tunisian people and deal with the health and economic crisis we are confronting. ”

Concerning the calls for the departure of the government, Ghannouchi admitted that this resolution is unlikely and that it is not in the interest of the country, “especially since the nation is at the centre of ‘an unprecedented health and economic crisis ”.

Asked about the motion to withdraw confidence, Ghannouchi evoked that he had been chosen as head of parliament with a majority of the votes.

“Everyone knows that the purpose of repeating these trials is political par excellence and intends to undermine the parliamentary institution, increase tension and prevent the achievement of stability”