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A man sits with a flag on the gate to the Tunisian Parliament in Tunis
Photo: ZOUBEIR SOUISSI / REUTERS
The political power struggle in Tunisia is getting worse: The Tunisian judiciary is now investigating the Islamic-conservative Ennahda party and its affiliated party Kalb Tounes.
Both are accused of having received money from abroad for election campaigns, among other things, as a court spokesman said.
In the event of a guilty verdict, the parties' funds could be frozen and travel bans imposed on their members.
In Tunisia, President Kaïs Saïed has been fighting a power struggle with the Ennahda for months.
In a surprising step, he relieved Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi of his office on Sunday evening and suspended the work of parliament for the time being.
In doing so, he also weakened the position of the Islamists, who are considered moderate.
(Read more about this here.)
According to the Reuters news agency, the investigation into the parties began on July 14 - before Mechichi was released.
As Prime Minister, Mechichi had support from Ennahda and Kalb Tounes.
The two strongest parties in parliament, like Mechichi himself, are in conflict with President Saïed.
The main focus of the dispute is how power should be distributed between the president, government and parliament.
After Saïed's controversial measures, the Ennahda spoke of a "coup d'état" on Sunday evening.
The President, however, stated that the steps he had announced were within the legal framework of the constitution.
In the meantime, the Ennahda has called for early elections.
"For the sake of the democratic path," the party announced that it was ready for early parliamentary and presidential elections.
Before the elections, however, "Parliament must resume its work and the military end its control," said a high-ranking functionary of the Islamist party, Noureddine B'Hiri, the AFP news agency.
lau / dpa / Reuters / AFP