The arrest of the interim head of Ennahda comes after the publication of audio recordings on social media this week attributed to Ounissi in which he accused some officials of his party of seeking to control the party and receiving illegal funds.

The Public Prosecution Office on Monday opened an investigation into the recordings. Ounissi said in a video on his Facebook page that the recordings were fabricated.

The police this year arrested the party’s leader, Rached Ghannouchi, the most prominent critic of President Kais Saied, as well as several other party officials.

The government also banned meetings at all Ennahda offices, and police closed all party offices, in a move Ennahda said aimed at consolidating a dictatorial regime.

Police this year have detained leading political figures, who accused Saied of carrying out a coup after he closed the elected parliament in 2021 and moved to rule by decree before rewriting the constitution. Saied has described those detained as “terrorists, traitors and criminals”.