Supporters of the Chahed party, named after Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, agreed to officially announce the unveiling of their new political party on January 27 and to hold the first founding conference next March. This came following eight consultative meetings held in eight governorates including Sousse, Mahdia, Kef, Jendouba and Bizerte. The party is chaired by Chahed and should represent Tunisia’s National Coalition bloc in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The pro-Chahed party would be revealed from the city of Monastir, the birthplace and burial site of former President Habib Bourguiba. The decision was reached after holding 24 meetings with a number of political and social leaders, mainly from centrist parties and other figures who left the Nidaa Party, led by President Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi. Essebsi had also announced his Nidaa Tounes party in 2012, following Tunisia’s first elections from the city of Monastir, which has a special place in the Tunisian popular imagination. In a meeting held in the coastal city of Mahdia, Former head of the Presidential Diwan in Tunisia Selim Al-Azabi said that pro-Chahed supporters aim to create a popular and democratic national party and to evade from committing the same mistakes caused by the Nidaa party. “The Nidaa won the 2014 parliamentary elections thanks to its electoral campaign, but it failed to become a political party,” Al-Azabi said. Currently, the National Coalition holds 39 parliamentary seats while the Nidaa Tounes controls 51 parliamentary seats. Meanwhile, head of the Nidaa electoral conference, Ridha Charafeddine, said the party’s campaign rally would be held on the 2nd and 3rd of March, in preparation for the presidential and parliamentary 2019 elections. The rally would open the doors to political competition between the Nidaa Tounes and the Amel Tounes parties.