Tunisia's Ghannouchi meets rival after 1-year stalemate

TUNIS

Rachid Ghannouchi, head of Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, met with political rival Hafez Essebsi, director of the Nedaa Tounes party, on Monday.

According to a statement posted on Ghannouchi’s Facebook page, the meeting -- which follows one year of strained relations between the two politicians -- tackled “the current political situation”.

The statement provided no further details.

Since last spring, relations between Ennahda (68 seats in parliament) and Nidda Tounes (41 seats) have remained strained due to the former’s refusal to leave Prime Minister Youssef Chahed’s coalition government.

Early last year, Nidaa Tounes suffered an internal crisis between Essebsi and Chahed, with the two accusing each other of harming the party’s interests.