'UAE conspiracy' aims to destabilise Tunisian politics, warns official

Tunisia was plunged into a political crisis this month when the Ennahdha party withdrew its support from Prime Minister Elias Fakhfakh, who resigned last week.

Noureddine al-Behairi, head of Ennahdha's parliamentary bloc, accused the Free Constitutional Party of being "a tool for implementing an Emirati plan hostile to Tunisia and the democratic experiment", as well as being affiliated with the "Emirati-Egyptian axis" in order to "sabotage the Tunisian experience".

The Free Constitutional Party staged an occupation of parliament on Friday, preventing parliamentary sessions to choose a new Tunisian prime minister from being held.

"Tunisia is trying to work to complete the democratic path, but some are trying to sabotage and destroy the experience and plunge Tunisia into a civil war," Behairi told The New Arab.

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Behairi also suggested Mohammed Dahlan, former official of the Fatah political party in Gaza, and Dubai deputy police chief Dhahi Khalfan of attempting to "pave the way for an Emirati coup in Tunisia, similar to what happened in Egypt".

In a Monday Facebook post, former government advisor Jaouhar Ben Mbarek named Saudi Arabia and the UAE as two primary regional forces that are "ruining the national internal situation" in Tunisia.

The Free Constitutional Party was founded by former members of the Constitutional Democratic Rally, which was the ruling party in Tunisia under former dictator Zine El-Abidine Bin Ali, who was overthrown by a revolution in 2011.

It is ideologically opposed to the Ennahdha Party, which it claims has ties to "terrorism".

The party has demanded a motion of no confidence in Speaker of Parliament and Ennahdha head Rached El-Ghannouchi.

Ghannouchi said a criminal case will be raised against the Free Constitutional Party for "stopping the work of parliament".

Free Constitutional Party leader Abir Moussi has voiced opposition to the 2011 revolution that brought democracy to Tunisia and said that she is constantly being followed and has received death threats from Ennahdha's supporters.

Some reports have accused her of receiving backing from the UAE, which has fiercely opposed both Islamist groups and the revolutions of the Arab Spring, which started in Tunisia.

Tunisia's political crisis has been accompanied by an economic downturn linked to the novel coronavirus and hundreds of people have protested against unemployment and inequality.

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