The controversy continues over the last session of the #HoR held on 3 March, during which the Speaker claimed that 89 MPs participated in the vote of confidence, plus 8 who sent their votes through WhatsApp voice messages. How true are these claims?

The Speaker stated that the total number of HoR members is actually 166, minus 3 who joined the government, so 163 – which means to him that the required quorum of 50%+1 is of only 82 members present.

Based on the clarification, M. Salah claimed that the 01/03 vote to grant confidence to

‘s cabinet was legal and thus rejected the statement of the UN Spokesperson, which reported a series of violations of voting procedures and called on a new political dialogue.

Contrary to what many reported, the session of 03/03 was not another vote of confidence, as it is illegal to hold a second vote, and the vote was not even on the session’s agenda. It was just a vote to swear in the new cabinet, during which new & confusing numbers were given.

To that extent, the analysis of the March 1 vote by

and the UN still stands. In fact Fathi Bashaga started to sign letters as « Prime Minister » starting on 01/03 – meaning that this is the vote that is considered to be the confidence vote – not what happened on 03/03

Remember that the total number of HoR members is unclear, which makes definition of « quorum » subject to instrumentalization depending on political needs .  Also, voting via WhatsApp remains illegal from the point of view of HoR procedures.

Lastly, the HSC vote of 23/02 remains a valid counter-argument to the legality of the procss from the point of view of the #LPA.