Members of Parliament stressed on Monday, in statements to TAP, that parliamentary work cannot be accomplished without the formation of parliamentary blocs, agreeing that “the statement of President of the Republic, Kais Saied, on this subject was misinterpreted”. Saied said on Saturday, on the sidelines of an unannounced visit to the headquarters of “Snipe La Presse” in Tunis, “the next parliament must live up to the aspirations of the Tunisian people because it will not be like the previous one… Those who are outbidding and talking about the formation of parliamentary blocs are out of context… because they are under the control of voters. MP Riadh Jaidane said that the Committee on Rules of Procedure will look into the matter as parliamentary work must be carried out within the framework of groups, referring to parliamentary blocs. He said that the Head of State was aiming this statement at the partisan blocs that have undermined parliamentary action, raising the issue of “parliamentary tourism” observed in the previous assembly. For MP Hichem Hosni, the parliamentary blocs are mentioned in the new constitution and are therefore recognised by the law.”It is not possible to talk about parliamentary action without blocs,” he said, adding that “the Head of State was addressing parliamentary groups formed by dirty money and corruption. For his part, Ahmed Bennour, said that the statement of the Head of State was misinterpreted. “The president is rather against the formation of parliamentary blocs by dirty money,” he explained. “We will work within the framework of parliamentary blocs that are close in terms of programmes and not regions,” he said. For her part, MP Sirine Mrabet recalled that parliamentary groups must be formed to debate bills, believing that it is inconceivable that an MP should work individually. According to article 62 of the new constitution, “If a deputy withdraws from the parliamentary bloc to which he or she belonged at the beginning of the legislature, he or she is prohibited from joining another bloc”.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP)