Tunisia's Ennahda to expand ruling coalition

Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party is holding open discussions with a diverse range of political parties in an effort to expand the ruling coalition in the country which currently consists of three main parties, Ennahda leader Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi told Arabstoday on Sunday, during a party conference held in Tunis. "I'm not an official within the government to announce a cabinet reshuffle, but the prime minister (Hamadi Jebali) revealed in the opening session of the conference that he is currently assessing the cabinet's performance during the last six or seven months. Needless to say that assessment could lead to a cabinet reshuffle, and I can confirm that we are holding talks with prominent Tunisian parties in order to expand the ruling coalition," said Ghannouchi. The Ennahda leader said that the final statement of the Islamist party's ninth conference might suggest an amendment to the government and the expansion of the country's ruling political troika. The amendments are apparently directed at improving the efficiency of Hamadi Jebali's government. Many opposition parties, especially the Republican Party, earlier demanded a new national rescue government to lead the country until elections take place in the spring of 2013. A high profile governmental source told Arabstoday that the expected reshuffle within the government was first considered a few months ago, but Ennahda decided to reveal it at the party's annual conference. The source added that Prime Minister Jebali proposed the setting up of a new national consensus government led by Ennahda, but Ghannouchi firmly rejected this proposal back then.