Tunisia: Political conflicts between tools of power fed by Brotherhood

Sarah Rashad

The coming days could bring more complexity to the Tunisian crisis that has raged since the beginning of the year, while experts summarize it in the struggle for power between the head of state, the head of government and the parliament speaker.

In a new escalation, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi rejected the condition announced by Tunisian General Labor Union Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi, said that President Kais Saied told him that he required Mechichi’s resignation before engaging in any political dialogue.

In his first comment, Mechichi said that the president linking the launch of the national dialogue to his resignation is meaningless, stressing that his resignation is not on the table.

Mechichi said that Tunisia needs stability and a government that responds to the aspirations of the people, adding that he will not abandon his responsibility towards the country, its democratic institutions and the people’s entitlements.

“We have battles that distract us, from political bickering and scoring political points. I am not interested in them,” he added, stressing that his hand is always extended to dialogue and that “battles against windmills are not good.”

Ennahda, the Brotherhood’s arm in the country, stands behind Mechichi and aims to prevent him from submitting his resignation, as the movement competes with the head of state over power while seeking to consolidate the parliamentary system of government.

Tunisian political analyst Hassan Ayadi believes that the condition of conducting the national dialogue proposed by President Saied through close associates reveals that the crisis is likely to extend for a long period, given that the parties to the conflict have set conditions that prevent the dialogue.

Ayadi said that there is a struggle between the three government institutions, a struggle in which the parliament speaker and the prime minister moved from the defense to criticizing the president for violating the powers conferred on him by the constitution in order to acquire powers not stipulated in the constitution.

This was evidenced by the prime minister’s contact with the Russian foreign minister and his desire to deliver a message that he would address the shortcomings in the performance of the presidency in the diplomatic file.

In turn, Parliament Speaker and Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi began a policy of expanding his authority in defense of the parliamentary system, as he met with the head of the Agriculture Committee and a member of parliament from Ennahda to follow up on the promotion of spoiled foodstuffs in the markets and to open an investigation and hold accountable those involved. In doing so, Ghannouchi embodied what he had aspired to build from a parliamentary system in which the powers of parliament and its president exceed oversight and accountability.

Tunisia is going through a severe economic crisis, which prompted citizens to demonstrate on the tenth anniversary of the Jasmine Revolution, raising the same slogans of the revolution to overthrow the regime, indicating the similarity of current conditions to those before the revolution.

Accordingly, observers confirm that Tunisia cannot tolerate all these political contradictions between the tools of power, as the country needs transformations that improve the lives of citizens and save the collapsing economic situation.