2019: A year of failures for Tunisia’s Ennahda

Asmaa al-Batakoshi

The Ennahda Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Tunisia, came across a series of failures in 2019.

The movement failed in convincing the Tunisian parliament to pass what came to be known as the “Charity Bill”. It also failed in forming a government. This was why Ennahda had to nominate Habib Jemli to form the new cabinet.

Ennahda also failed in the presidential elections in which it fielded one of its senior members as a candidate.

In a desperate attempt to make up for the losses it sustained, Ennahda tried to impose its ideology on university students and school pupils. In doing this, it wanted to ensure that it has the necessary support base among Tunisian youngsters for the Muslim Brotherhood project.

Parallel control

Parliament Speaker and Ennahda leader, Rached Ghannouchi, has appointed a number of advisors for him in an unlawful manner. He did not consult or notify any of the lawmakers about or of these appointments.

Several lawmakers accused Ghannouchi of making these appointments without consulting the legislature. Other lawmakers accused him of making these appointments to please the members of his movement who propelled him into the position of parliament speaker.

Ghannouchi rejected these accusations, claiming that they were made legally.

First test

Ennahda ran into its first failure in the Tunisian parliament this month when it proposed a charity bill. It also proposed the creation of a special charity fund that would be responsible for catering to the needs of the poor, orphans, and unemployed Tunisians.

Only 74 lawmakers approved the bill, whereas 93 others rejected it and 17 others abstained from voting.

Coercion

Ennahda does not tolerate opposition to its ideology, especially among university students. The movement works to create a strong support base in the universities for its Muslim Brotherhood project.

The Tunisian General Students Association complained earlier against persecution by the movement. Association members say the movement targets them personally. This came after the association revealed links between Ennahda and some of the terrorist operations that took place in Tunisia in the past few years.

Cabinet formation failure

Ennahda won a majority of seats in the Tunisian parliament, 52 seats. Nonetheless, it failed in forming a government.

Most of the parties refused to participate in a government that would be led by the Islamist movement, including Tunisia’s Heart Party which owns 38 seats in parliament.

Following repeated failures in forming the government, Ennahda had to nominate al-Habib Jemli to form the cabinet, a mission he faced difficulties in carrying out because of boycott by the political parties.