Ghannoushi reelected chairman of Tunisia’s Ennahda

By Adil al-Tabti

TUNIS (AA) - Rachid Ghannoushi, leader of Tunisia's Ennahda movement, was reelected as party chairman Monday.

"Ghannoushi was reelected by a landslide," Ali al-Arid, Ennahda secretary-general and a former prime minister, said shortly after the vote.

According to al-Arid, Ghannoushi won 800 of the votes cast by leading party members while the two runners-up, Fethi Ayadi and Mohamed al-Akrud, won 229 and 29 votes, respectively.

The vote was held following a party congress that kicked off Friday in capital Tunis.

Tunisia’s Ennahda movement was founded in 1972.

Since its establishment, it has held nine party congresses, including five secret ones between 1979 and 1991 -- when it was banned by the authorities -- and three held abroad between 1995 and 2011.

Its ninth congress was held in Tunisia in 2012, when it led a ruling government coalition after winning legislative polls in late 2011 following the ouster of longstanding president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.