By Amira Howeidy
24 Sep 2020
The leader and co-founder of Tunisia’s moderate
Islamist Ennahda Movement, Rachid Al-Ghannouchi, has come under pressure from
prominent members of his party to step down and not obstruct the rotation of
power.
The move by
100 figures in Ennahda came in the form of a letter addressed to Al-Ghannouchi
on 16 September asking him to declare that he would not run as president of the
movement for a third term.
The timing
of the letter, ahead of Ennahda’s 11th convention scheduled for the end of the
year, seeks to exert pressure on Al-Ghannouchi to respect the movement’s bylaws
that prohibit the election of a president for more than two four-year
consecutive terms.
Al-Ghannouchi
was elected president of Ennahda in 2012 and 2016 and has been at the helm of
the movement as its intellectual leader for decades. After the 2011 uprising
that overthrew the regime led by former Tunisian president Zine Al-Abidine Bin
Ali, the formerly banned Ennahda became a legal “Muslim democrats” party.
Its
electoral victories since then have placed it at the forefront of Tunisia’s
nascent experiment with democracy, but they have also affected its popularity
in recent years. Tensions within Ennahda have been brewing over its performance
as an active political player in changing times.
The
five-page letter entitled “Ennahda’s future, between the dangers of extension
and opportunities for rotation,” was signed by movement heavyweights including
from its Shura Council, its highest authority and effective leadership, its
executive bureau, and MPs.
The letter
emphasised the rotation of power in Ennahda, as per chapter 31 of its bylaws,
and the election of a new president of the movement at the upcoming 11th
convention planned in December.
Ennahda’s
president is required to be fully devoted to his responsibilities as leader and
not to occupy other posts. Al-Ghannouchi, 79, is also speaker of the
Ennahda-majority Tunisian parliament.
The
signatories to the letter warned of attempts to amend the movement’s bylaws in
order to allow Al-Ghannouchi to extend his term in office, which could affect
its unity and lead to serious divisions. “Changing constitutions and laws to
empower presidents and leaders to remain in power are acts of authoritarianism
and one-man rule,” they said.
The
rotation of power, said the document, was a practical test for both the
movement’s democracy and the leadership’s commitment to it. Al-Ghannouchi has
not responded publicly to the document, but has reportedly rejected the
initiative.
“Leaders
have thick skin,” Al-Ghannouchi said in a statement attributed to him. “They
tolerate shocks and absorb vicissitudes.” There was a difference between the
rotation of power of heads of state and party leaders, he said, accusing the
signatories to the letter of “imposing” their guardianship on the movement
ahead of its convention under the guise of democracy to exclude him from
office.
“It’s a
storm in a teacup,” he said.
In recent
years, several influential figures in Ennahda have resigned and spoken out
publicly against its politics and policies. This has been a normal, if not
predictable, development of the movement’s engagement in politics, say
observers.
“Tensions
inside Ennahda have been growing, especially since it resumed normal politics.
It’s been a decade now, many things have changed, but Al-Ghannouchi is still
the ultimate leader,” said Youssef Cherif, a Tunis-based political analyst.
After
almost a decade of post-Revolution Tunisia, Ennahda might be moving towards a
post-Al-Ghannouchi era. “New leaders are emerging in the party,” said Cherif,
but “Al-Ghannouchi wants the status quo and is not ready to leave. His response
is that of a founding father in denial.”
Al-Ghannouchi,
who has a degree in philosophy from Damascus University, founded the Islamic
Tendency Movement in 1981 that called for democracy and the end of Tunisia’s
one-party system. He was arrested a few months later and left Tunisia for the
UK following his release in 1988, where he remained in exile until the 2011
Revolution.
Under his
watch, Ennahda had formed several coalitions with the secular parties that have
steered Tunisia’s turbulent political scene away from the failures of other
Arab Spring experiences.
But Tunisia’s
democratic success has not paid off on aspirations of economic stability among
other grievances. In the 2019 elections, Tunisia’s electorate voted against the
country’s traditional parties, including Ennahda, which despite its majority in
parliament did not get enough seats to form a government.
“Al-Ghannouchi
sees himself as fundamental to the future of the party: as long as Ennahda wins
the elections, he considers that he is on the right track,” Cherif told
Al-Ahram Weekly.
But by
rejecting demands to step down, Al-Ghannouchi could trigger a serious fracture
in Ennahda, which the document’s signatories are sensitive to.
“Al-Ghannouchi’s
response to the letter does not change anything,” said Zobeir Al-Shahoudi, a
leading figure in Ennahda. “But if he accepts it, he will save us from an
internal battle that no one wants,” he added.
Original Headline: Tunisia: Fractures in
Ennahda?
Source: The English al-Ahram
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