MSP Party Congress: Menasra quits the electoral race after 30 hours of insider manoeuvrings

In a baffling move, the candidate in the election to the post of MSP chairman Abdelmadjid Menasra has finally quit the race after back-door manoeuvrings at the close of the MSP party congress leaving the door wide open to the re-election of outgoing chairman Aboudjara Soltani who won 3 rounds of voting.

The 4th MSP party congress was marked by an internecine power struggle between the supporters of Menasra and Soltani who were both vying for the chairmanship of the party, the Movement of the Society of Peace.

Aboudjara Soltani was backed by the party’s national executive bureau while Abdelmadjid Menasra was upheld by the Madjliss Echoura or consultative body.

The lingering power struggle between the 2 contenders was so intense that the 2 rival camps traded serious accusations against one another in the hope of swaying the vote by the 1,300 delegates taking part in the proceedings of the tumultuous party’s congress.

The internecine conflict between the 2 camps brought confusion and rancour among some party members who had resorted to all means to discredit each other, notably through fiery press statements, in the eyes of the party’s rank and file and the public opinion as well.