Forged qualifications of Ennahda supporters: Pending file preoccupying Tunisian public opinion

Sarah al-Hareth

Despite the passage of Labor Day on May 1, the file of forged educational qualifications and infiltrating government jobs during what is known as the “Black Decade” still occupies Tunisian public opinion, particularly the forces opposed to the Brotherhood-affiliated Ennahda movement.

Ennahda is accused of its involvement in introducing its supporters to the administrative authorities in the state with forged educational certificates in order to ensure their loyalty and control over these institutions.

Incomplete efforts

This is not the first time that this file has been opened, as the opening of the file dates back to 2021 after the events of July 25 of the same year, when investigations concluded that 47,000 employees had forged educational certificates during the period of Ennahda’s control of the Tunisian government. Against the backdrop of these investigations, about 150 substandard teachers were sent to investigations, with confirmation that the forgery extended to the sector of engineers and even ministers.

The efforts of the Tunisian authorities did not stop there, as it repeated attempts to track down the forgers in November 2022, when it launched processes to verify all academic certificates in the ministries, with the adoption of the electronic seal to reduce forgery.

Despite all these efforts, the file of forged certificates still has not received a major movement to end it, to the extent that it is raised with every occasion concerning workers or talk about the economic situation of the state that makes the issue of paying salaries a great burden.

Why the delay?

In a statement to the Reference, Tunisian political writer Nizar Jlidi confirmed the delay in resolving many files, stressing that Tunisian President Kais Saied and his team are working on several files at the same time and are facing internal and external resistance from the Brotherhood in a way that stalls the scene.

Trade union activist Kais Ben Yahmed agreed with Jlidi, recounting to the Reference the reason for the failure of the certificate forgery file and many other files to Ennahda’s penetration of the judiciary.

“The judiciary in Tunisia has been infiltrated after the Brotherhood installed many judges in advanced positions in the courts, and this will not end because they are assigned the task of striking the economy and security and questioning every achievement, and this is easy to do if you are on the hill,” he said, adding, “This will not end except with a real independent judiciary and an electoral law that excludes those connected to public rights crimes, corruption and terrorism.”

President Saied is not only facing Ennahda, but rather he is facing the octopus of the global Brotherhood organization and countries betting on and financing it, Ben Yahmed pointed out, adding, “Even most of the media lobbies in the Western world are on the side of this organization that was wagered upon in the Arab Spring from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.

He reiterated what he considered a state of dispersion in Tunisia in the face of corruption files to “political money, the alliance of figures of corruption, smuggling and bribery with the Brotherhood, and the roles of embassies, intelligence services and organizations donating funds.”

Ben Yahmed stressed that what President Saied lacks are wise advisors, qualified ministers, and speed in taking positions despite the infiltration in institutions and ministries.