Tunisia- HPR bureau to meet Today to look at motion of withdrawal of confidence in Rached Ghannouchi

The bureau of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) decided on Thursday afternoon that it is in open session and that it will meet again today to continue the examination of the motion of withdrawal of confidence in HPR speaker Rached Ghannouchi, MP of Qalb Tounes Oussama Kehlifi told the press at the end of the meeting.

He explained that among the reasons for the lifting of the work of the HPR bureau this Thursday, the absence of the two deputies of the democratic bloc Zouhair Maghzaoui and Nabil Hajji who represent the initiating party of the motion of withdrawal of confidence in Ghannouchi. This prevented, according to him, to fix the date of a plenary session for the consideration of the motion.

For her part, MP Samira Saihi (bloc of the Free Destorian Party) said that the MPs of her parliamentary group who had submitted a request for withdrawal of confidence in Rached Ghannouchi, persisted in wanting to set the date of the plenary session devoted to this issue. In view of the fact that it is bound by deadlines, she explained.

She warned against “manoeuvres” aimed at dodging the fixing of a date for this plenary session.

As for Zeineb Brahmi (Ennahdha Bloc), she raised questions of form and wording in the text of the motion tabled with the parliamentary order desk. The motion refers to the “announcement” of a withdrawal of confidence and not a “request” for a withdrawal of confidence and the setting of a date for it, she noted.

In her view, the motion does not call for a withdrawal of confidence and is therefore inadmissible as to form. The initiators of the motion did not give any answer on this question, she added, believing that Friday’s meeting will have to decide by a vote.

The HPR Bureau on Thursday voted in favour of adding the signatures of the PDL deputies (16 deputies) to the motion of withdrawal of confidence to the Speaker of Parliament to which 73 deputies have signed. This led MPs Zouhair Maghzaoui and Nabil Hajji (Democratic Bloc) to withdraw from the meeting.

Besides, the HPR Bureau indicated in a statement on Thursday that its meeting was an opportunity to hear a report on the draft motion of censure against the government in accordance with the provisions of the rules of procedure. The HRP Bureau decided that the motion is admissible as to form but that it is of no interest, the President of the Republic having notified that the resignation of the Prime Minister preceded it, the same source reads.

TAP