New accounts reveal Ennahda’s ugly face

Doaa Emam

The accounts of those who broke away with Ennahda, the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Tunisia, are turning into a major problem for the movement as it prepares for the presidential elections in the North African state, slated for November this year.

The accounts reveal the phony nature of the slogans of the movement and the deception it is subjecting the Tunisian people to. This is especially true when it comes to slogans about democracy and respect for the ballot boxes.

Two former members of the movement described the dictatorship of the Ennahda movement and the domination of the principle of total obedience inside it.

Mohammed Bin Jibla is one of these former members. He was the general secretary of the movement’s office in Canada and a member of the movement from 1980s to 2017.

Jibla was a founding member of the movement’s youth office abroad.

Mohammed Habib al-Aswad is the other former member. He was the leader of the Islamic Movement, which later became Ennahda. He came out of his silence and recorded a new testimony about the Brotherhood branch in Tunisia.

On his personal Facebook page, he wrote a letter. He called it “To the lost flock”

In the letter, al-Aswad recounted his crisis with Ennahda. He said that he had refused before the military court to incriminate any of the leaders of the movement.

“I admitted that I was the only culprit. I took my responsibility alone. I saved 30 heads that were wanted for execution. Waiting for the gallows, I discovered through the state security records and the military court that some of the lost herd after they gave all the information and coordinates about me to the security of the state, through their clients, suggested my assassination if the regime is unable to do so,” he said.

He added that he was in contact with the leaders and alerted them that corruption is gnawing at the movement, demanding that they rectify their situation. “During my torture, the herd found an order from their leaders. They attributed to me all the subversive acts carried out by their followers. While some of their symbols said: The Islamic Movement in Tunisia did not give birth to a man like him.”

He rejected those he considered to be affiliated with Ennahda, pointing out that he was one of those who witnessed the first founding conferences of the Islamic trend and one of its leaders.

He stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood is hurling everyone who criticizes them or advises their leaders with stones.

Al-Aswad wrote two days ago a letter Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi in which he criticized his position on the refusal to include a section on the political fortification of the revolution within the Transitional Justice Law in Tunisia.

He said that time proved that the position of Ghannouchi was not a political or a tactical one as promoted by his followers, but rather a service for foreign agendas planning to return the fallen regime.

This was evidenced by the meeting of Ghannouchi with Abdullah al-Qalaal, a former adviser of the ousted Tunisian president.

“With the nearness of the elections, you are again stupid, to ask for the removal of anyone who glorifies the dictatorship of Ben Ali, or you were not the first to glory what Ben Ali did on the day that he seized power by coup,” al-Aswad said.

He attributed the crises faced by the country to the development of the positions of Ennahda for fear and dread with external agendas not related to the interests of Tunisia.

He said the movement claims that the change of its connection aims at sparring Tunisia strife and division.

The division, he said, is the most enticing thing and all estimates of the movement are wrong,” al-Aswad said.

This new testimony resulted in an attack from the electronic Brigades of the movement in defense of its head.