A senior official of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party which opposed the president’s seizure of governing powers has confirmed that one of its officials have been placed under house arrest.
Arrowhead of the party Anouar Maarouf has been on the watch list since President Kais Saied sacked the prime minister and suspended parliament on July 25 in moves Ennahda branded a “coup’’.
Maarouf was, until 2020, minister of communications and technology, a government department which Saied has suggested parties tried to manipulate to their personal whims.
An Ennahda official who preferred to remain anonymous said “Anouar Maarouf was informed by official authorities that he is under house arrest”
Though Saied’s moves are largely supported among Tunisian citizens, observers have raised concerns over Tunisia’s democratic transition – a decade after it ousted autocratic rule in a revolution that triggered the 2011 Arab Spring.
Many statesmen and officials have been detained or put under investigation, including on old warrants that were implemented after the president lifted parliamentary immunity.
To gain full control, Saied replaced the ministers in charge Interior Ministry and Communications and Technology Ministry.
Saied said he would not accept future communications and technology ministers being linked to political parties that might want control over citizens’ data.
Ennahda is one of four political parties in the country which the government said it was investigating over foreign funding.
The judiciary also briefly investigated four party members, including parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi over minor fracases with Saied supporters on July 26.