Legislative elections: Enahda’s last hope to stay in Tunisian scene

Mouaz Mohammad

Following the loss of the Tunisian Ennahda movement in the first round of the presidential elections, and its candidate Abdel Fattah Moro for the third place in the voting results, the movement is trying with all its might to find a way out of the crisis.

Following the announcement of the Independent High Electoral Commission on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, the loss of Moro, candidate of Ennahdha, Rashid Ghannouchi confirmed that they will support the revolutionary candidate in the second round of elections, scheduled for October 13.

He added in an interview on the Tunisian channel Zaytuna that Ennahda will not stand the position of neutrality in these elections.

In March 2019, Enahda leader Abdellatif Mekki did not rule out Enahda’s support for Qais Said, saying that “all scenarios are out there,” noting that Said is known for his integrity and academic excellence.

On September 24, the Ennahda Shura Council announced, in an official statement, supporting independent candidate Said in the second round of the presidential elections, calling on the general electorate to vote for him.

Said’s ideas are relatively close to the trends of Islamic movements, which supported the idea of ​​backing the Al-Nahda Brotherhood in the run-off of the presidential elections, in contrast to the other candidate Nabil Karawi, who is accused of corruption and tax evasion.

Fooling paper

After the movement’s decision to support Said in the second round of the presidential elections, to ensure its survival with him, Enahda played on another chord, legislative elections; to ensure and confirm its survival in the scene.

Ennahdha leader Ghannouchi warned at a press conference on Friday (September 27th) that “the election of the Heart of Tunisia Party, headed by Nabil Karoui, will lead to a clash in the executive authority if candidate Said wins the presidency.

He stressed that his movement is not ready to ally with any party hovering on suspicion of corruption, calling through this paper to elect Ennahdha in the upcoming legislative elections, in order to avoid the scenario of clashing the executive authority in the event of a happy victory of the presidency.

Ghannouchi said that Ennahdha is ready to govern through its experience and the cleanliness of its officials. No one has attributed corruption to them, justifying the call to elect his movement by saying: “We prevented the old system in 2014 from drifting towards the right and towards exclusion, and we will do so with the forces of the revolution, so as not to move the country into the unknown.”

The accused and the victim

In the midst of the legislative elections, Ennahdha President Ghannouchi is waiting for a tough confrontation in Tunisia’s first constituency.

Tunisian lawyer Basma Khalafawi, widow of leftist Choukri Belaid, stands up to Ghannouchi, leader of Ennahda in Tunisia’s first constituency. According to Sky News, the first confirmed that she is confident that her list “Tunisia Forward” will win a seat in the next parliament .