Tunisia suffocates Brotherhood: President ejects them, parliament threatens them

Nahla Abdel Moneim

Tunisia is witnessing an escalation in political events, which is likely to reach a climax on July 30, when a vote scheduled to withdraw confidence from Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi. Whatever the results, it will be a milestone for Brotherhood in the country and perhaps the beginning of its fall.

On July 25, Tunisian President Kais Saied announced the nomination of Hichem Mechichi as prime minister and charging him with forming a new government to succeed the government of resigned Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh. Mechichi must submit his new government to the parliament within one month to obtain a clear majority. If he cannot achieve this, then the parliament will be dissolved and new elections will be held within three months in accordance with Tunisian law.

Ghannouchi shakes

Tunisia’s parliament decided to hold a no-confidence motion on July 30 against Ghannouchi, who heads the Brotherhood-affiliated Ennahda Movement, in light of requests made by the Free Destourian Party (PDL) bloc in protest against Ghannouchi’s exploitation of the parliament to achieve Brotherhood interests in the Middle East, conspiring with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against Libya, and violating the parliament’s internal regulations.

PDL parliamentarians held a sit-in amid arguments between the various parties, and several demonstrations were organized by the bloc in front of the parliament, while the Akhsheed movement protested at Akhsheedi Plaza.

According to Al-Arabiya, PDL leader Abeer Moussa said that Ghannouchi heading the legislative branch threatens the country’s national security and exposes it to danger, stressing that she will open the file of Ghannouchi’s financial corruption and reveal the sources of his wealth, which has increased over the past few years. She added that the upcoming parliament session will witness the political fall of Ghannouchi.

Moussa also noted that Ghannouchi’s participation in the parliament meeting scheduled to review the regulations for withdrawing confidence from him is considered an infringement of the law and the regulations governing the committee’s work.

It is noteworthy that Moussa escalated her attack against Ghannouchi after he visited Erdogan in Istanbul in the midst of regional volatility and Ankara’s clear ambitions and military interference in Libya. The PDL considers this to be a betrayal of Tunisian national principles and in violation of parliamentary laws that do not allow the speaker to visit any foreign country without official approval from parliament members and that stipulate any visit be announced and not secret.

Meanwhile, Ghannouchi defended himself, hoping that the next parliament session would assure confidence in him and not withdraw it. He added that he had submitted the parliament’s proposal after seeing some people wanting to vote to withdraw confidence from him.

Government blow

The naming of a new government comes as another blow to Ennahda. Sky News reported that Mechichi is close to Saied, who has moved away from all party candidates, instead chosing an independent.

Mechichi was the minister of interior in Fakhfakh’s government, and he also served as the chief of staff at the Ministry of Transport, in addition to working in the Ministry of Social Affairs. Having gained the trust of Saied, he was appointed as a presidential advisor.

The choice of Mechichi was not based on the desire of the parties, which had presented their own candidates. Saied, who said that he respects legitimacy, noted that his choice must express the opinion of the majority. As the new prime minister is an independent, some views suggest that the parliament vote may fail or that some blocs may deliberately refuse the parliament’s dissolution.

Ennahda follow Brotherhood steps in Egypt

With the fate of the Brotherhood in Tunisia and its presence in the legislature at stake, will the Brotherhood remain silent and give in to the de facto situation? The terrorist group previously answered this question when it was threatened in Egypt, where it spread terrorism in the Sinai and roused extremists in an attempt to return ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s to power. Likewise, the Tunisian Brotherhood has promised to threaten the Tunisian people.

In a media interview on July 21, Ennahda spokesman Imad Khamiri threatened that Tunisia’s stability was linked to the formation of a government by Ennahda, otherwise there would be no stability in the country.

Khamiri linked the country’s stability to Ennahda’s presence in the executive authority, which came as a veiled threat just days before the new prime minister was announced. By excluding the Brotherhood from the political scene, the group is more likely to spread a discourse of violence. This poses a greater danger for the country since it borders western Libya, where terrorist militias are widespread.

In this context, Moussa has said that the Brotherhood’s use of threatening language as a tool to stay in power expresses how dangerous they are to national security. They are advocates of violence, not politics and peace, she added.