Ennahda uses women to score election victories

Doaa Emam

The election season brings a lot of change to the strategies of Islamist movements, one that sometimes does away with all the slogans these movements adopt for years.

These Islamist movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood and its ideological offshoots, sometimes also field non-Muslim candidates with the aim of giving a false impression that they are tolerant and that they have no problem with the adherents of other religions.

The head of the Ennahda Movement, an ideological offshoot of the Brotherhood, Rached Ghannouchi, has succeeded in drawing in a number of blond women who usually show a lot of skin to his party. He even managed to convince some of them to defend the party and sacrifice for it.

This man uses Tunisian women with the aim of achieving a breakthrough in the next elections. He employs a lot of deception in doing this.

The executive office of Ennahda stunned the movement’s followers recently by including unexpected candidates in the lists of the movement for the next parliamentary elections. Ghannouchi said these candidates were a prerequisite of the party’s need to open up to all members of the Tunisian society.

The lists of the party contained four female candidates. The executive office of the movement also included other candidates with the aim of increasing the chances of the movement in the elections.

Gazbar’s crisis

Ghannouchi advocated an increase in the representation of women inside his Islamist party. In doing this, he wanted to prove that his party has tolerance and does not discriminate against the followers of other religions and even against Muslim who are not fully covered.

Ennahda selected Tasnim Gazbar, the daughter of a former presidential advisor, to be at the top of one of its lists in the elections. The party has even stirred up debate by publishing photos of Gazbar uncovering her hair.

Gazbar fulminated at her detractors by saying that women should be judged by their abilities, not by what they wear.

Ennahda fell silent as Gazbar came under attack. According to reports, the head of Ennahda had removed the name of a female party member and replaced it with the name of an unveiled woman in the party’s lists. This angered a large number of the members of the party, who described the decision as “undemocratic”.

Using women

Ennahda used women extensively in the municipal elections in April 2018, the first to take place in Tunisia after its 2011 revolution. Around 48% of the candidates of the party in the elections were women.

According to Tunisian newspapers, the female members of the party opposed this policy. Nevertheless, Ghannouchi was quick to overcome this opposition.

In the past few days, the leadership of Ennahda seems to have realized that the veil is no longer an important Islamic symbol.