Tunis – Azhar Jarboui
The well-known sportsman and former Tunisian national football coach Mokhtar Tlili, currently supervising the Palestinian Olympic squad, announced he would join the Call of Tunisia party on Tuesday. Mokhtar Tlili claimed the movement is “the party that guarantees democracy and intellectual pluralism” inside Tunisia, praising its leader Beji Caid El-Sebsi, whom he described as \"a political force.” Tlili represents another high-profile figure showing support for the Call of Tunisia party, after a number of public personalities, including the mother of Mohamed Bouazizi, have weighed in behind El-Sebsi’s burgeoning bloc. This is mirrored in Tunisia\'s political arena, after more than 10 deputies [including Ibrahim Kasas] broke away from their parliamentary blocs in the Constituent Assembly in order to join Call of Tunisia. Increasing support for El-Sebsi’s coincides with a political rupture between the Call of Tunisia leader and the Ennahda-led government, which has alleged that his party is a gathering-place for counter-revolutionary elements and remnants from the former regime.