TUNIS, Tunisia

Leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, Rached Ghannouchi, has called for restoring democracy in the country, rejecting any foreign interference in the nation’s affairs.

In an interview with the private Zitouna TV channel, Ghannouchi termed the positions of the European Union, the US and Canada on Tunisia’s democratic transition as “positive”.

“We do not wait for foreign armies to support democracy in Tunisia,” Ghannouchi, a former parliament speaker, said. “Tunisians are the ones who brought democracy and they are the ones who will restore it,” he added.

“Tunisia still needs reconciliation. Tunisians must recognize each other,” Ghannouchi said.

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis that aggravated the country's economy since 2021, when President Kais Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.

Since then, Saied held a referendum to draft a new constitution last July and parliamentary elections last December.

While Saied insists that his measures were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.

* Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report