Tunisia’s Republican Party quits coalition government

By Saifeddin bin Mahjoub

TUNIS

Tunisia’s Republican Party on Monday announced its withdrawal from the country’s ruling coalition government.

At a press conference held in capital Tunis, Republican Party Secretary-General Essam al-Shabbi said the party had withdrawn from the ruling coalition government and accepted the resignation of one of its members, Iyad al-Dahmani, who had served as a spokesman for the government.

The Republican Party, which bills itself as a “centrist” party, holds a single seat in Tunisia’s 217-member parliament.

Al-Shabbi attributed his party’s decision to “difficulties associated with working within a government dominated by two parties” -- a reference to the Nidaa Tounes and Ennahda parties, the country’s two main ruling coalition partners.

Tunisia’s two most influential political parties, the secular-leaning Nidaa Tounes party and the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Ennahda movement together hold 68 seats in parliament.