Tunisia Parliament Rejects Blacklisting Muslim Brotherhood

Arab World

July 5th, 9:21am

Tunis - Mongi Saidani

Head of PDL Abir Moussi. AFP

Tunisia’s parliament bureau has rejected a draft-law submitted by the opposition Free Destourian Party (PDL) to blacklist the Muslim Brotherhood. The bureau consists of the parliament speaker, his deputies, and 10 lawmakers representing all parties in the legislatures. Five votes were in favor of the motion and five against it. The bureau said the draft-law contradicts the parliament’s statute. PDL is a staunch critic of political Islam and Islamist organizations. Its head, Abir Moussi, accuses Ennahda movement of having solid ties with the Muslim Brotherhood despite its denial. Moussi said Saturday that turning down the motion proves that the Tunisian parliament is ruled by the Brotherhood. She described the bureau’s latest move as a “conspiracy against the state.” Also Saturday, workers at oilfields in the Tataouine region, in southeastern Tunisia, launched an open-ended general strike, demanding that the government implements the El-Kamour Agreement. The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) called for the strike that involves all public facilities, and the oil and gas sectors. The protesters are demanding to hire more than 1,500 people in the petroleum companies operating in the region, the employment of 500 others in the environmental and horticulture companies, and allocating an amount of TND80 million dinars annually to the development fund within the governorate.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2371836/tunisia-parliament-rejects-blacklisting-muslim-brotherhood