Tunisia's parliament speaker in ‘good health’: Adviser

TUNIS, Tunisia

Tunisia’s Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi is in good health after being discharged from hospital, his political adviser said on Monday.

“Ghannouchi is in his home and his health condition is stable," Riyad al-Suaybi told Anadolu Agency.

Ghannouchi, who is also the leader of the Ennahda Movement, was re-admitted to hospital on Sunday one day after being discharged.

His press secretary Wassim Khadraoui said Ghannouchi experienced some health problems resulting from his COVID-19 infection. "Ghannouchi's condition has now stabilized and the doctors confirmed that he can be discharged," he added.

Maher Medhioub, another adviser to Ghannouchi, had earlier refuted claims that the parliament speaker intended to receive treatment abroad and assured that he does not plan to leave the country.

Last month, Ghannouchi was hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Last week, Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed the government of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, froze the parliament, and assumed executive authority with the assistance of a new prime minister.

The Tunisian president insists that his exceptional measures are meant to "save" the country while his critics accuse him of orchestrating a coup.

Tunisia is seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among a group of Arab countries that witnessed popular revolutions that toppled their ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara