Ex-Nidaa Tounes MPs launch breakaway party

By Ayman Jamali

TUNIS

A group of MPs who resigned late last year from Tunisia’s ruling Nidaa Tounes party have announced the launch of a new political party dubbed the "Project of Tunisia Movement".

At a Wednesday press conference in capital Tunis, MP Walid Jallad said the new party -- led by former Nidaa Tounes secretary-general Mohsen Marzouk -- included a total of 25 ex-Nidaa Tounes lawmakers.

According to Jallad, additional details about the new party would be revealed on March 20.

The 25 MPs in the new party resigned from Nidaa Tounes en masse in late 2015 to protest what they described as "undemocratic" practices by the party’s leadership.

Nidaa Tounes head Beji Caid Essebsi, who is also Tunisia’s president, has faced accusations from critics that he seeks to bequeath leadership of the ruling party -- established in 2012 -- to his son.