TUNIS
Rachid al-Ghannouchi, head of Tunisia's Ennahda Islamist movement, said Thursday that he feared a return to "despotism and single-party rule" after a rival political bloc – which includes figures associated with the ousted Ben Ali regime – won the most seats in this week's parliamentary polls.
Al-Ghannouchi, whose party came in second after the Nidaa Tounes coalition, said "there can be no going back to the past," urging political groups to continue working to guarantee freedoms enshrined in the country's new constitution.
Nidaa Tounes, which classifies itself as a "centrist" party, clinched 85 seats in Sunday's parliamentary poll, while Ennahda won 69 seats, Tunisia's electoral commission announced earlier on Thursday.
The victory of Nidaa Tounes, led by former prime minister Beji Qaid Essebsi, came as a surprise to many observers, given that Ennahda had won a majority of seats in Tunisia's constitution-drafting assembly following the 2011 ouster of autocratic president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Al-Ghannouchi, speaking at a Thursday press conference in Tunis, said his party was "open to all options," when asked if Ennahda would ever consider an alliance with Nidaa Tounes.
"The country still needs to be ruled through consensus and dialogue," he said. "[Ennahda's] policy is based on inclusion, national unity and the support of a national coalition government."
Over 60 percent of Tunisia's 5.2 million eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday's parliamentary polls, the first to be held since Ben Ali's ouster three years ago.
In order to form a government, Nidaa Tounes must now put together an electoral coalition of at least 109 assembly seats.
By Yousri Wannas
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