Tunisia’s Ennahda faces ‘terrorism’ designation calls

Nahla Abdelmonem

Tunisian political parties are working hard to end the political presence of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Ennahda Party on the Tunisian political stage.

Head of the Free Destourian Party Abir Moussi submitted a request to the parliament on June 8 to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a “terrorist organization.

Moussi said in her request that the presence of this Islamist organization on the Tunisian political stage violates the rules of the secular Tunisian state.

Moussi also called for punishing those who deal with the Muslim Brotherhood in the light of her country’s anti-terrorism law.

Moussi’s request inherently calls for disbanding the Ennahda Party and considering it a “terrorist entity”.

She said the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia had led to discrediting the North African country internationally.

These actions, she added, opened the door for accusations that Tunisia is incapable of preventing financing to terrorism.

“Muslim Brotherhood members in Tunisia are linked to people who are accused of extremism around the world,” Moussi said.

Moussi’s request came a short time after her party’s members in parliament questioned Parliament Speaker and Ennahda’s head Rached Ghannouchi on his links with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and the Turkish government.

The party’s members accused Ghannouchi on June 7 of causing harms to Tunisian interests by approving of Turkish interference in Libya.

The same members accused Ghannouchi of going beyond his mandate as a speaker of the Tunisian parliament and violating the mandate of the Tunisian president, which includes the determination of the country’s foreign policies.