Tunis, Reuters, 11 January 2016 – Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda Party became the biggest in parliament after more lawmakers in President Beji Caid Essebsi’s Nidaa Tounes party resigned on Monday over the role of his son, saying they feared a return of the hereditary transfer of power.

The rift does not present an immediate threat to the coalition government, which includes Ennahda, but it comes at a delicate time as the North African state struggles to contain militant violence and encourage economic growth.

With a new constitution and free elections, Tunisia has been praised as a model of democratic transition since the ouster of Zine Abidine Ben Ali and has mostly escaped the violent upheaval seen in other countries in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

After the first resignations last week, two more lawmakers said they were resigning from Nidaa Tounes on Monday, bringing the total to 19. That leaves the party with 67 lawmakers in the 217-member congress, while Ennahda has 69.

Those who have resigned, including Marzouk, say they will form a new party.

The resignations may complicate attempts to push through sensitive reforms that Tunisia’s international lenders are demanding to curb public spending and kickstart an economy hit by three major Islamist militant attacks last year.