In Tunisia, will Ennahda support Chahed to avoid Egypt’s scenario?

Mohamed Abdel-Ghaffar

Tunisia has witnessed a major political quake following the death of president Beji Caid Essebsi on July 25, 2019, who was considered the most consensual person since the revolution of Tunisia in 2011, and hours after the announcement of his death only raised questions about who shall succeed him.

Caid Essebsi, 92, a secularist who helped guide the transitional period after a 2011 revolution, was buried at a state funeral on Saturday. The speaker of parliament has been sworn in as interim president to lead the country to a new election.

Under shock, Tunisian political parties trembled, as head of the Tunisian government Youssef Chahed announced he will not run for the incoming presidential elections, set to be held mid-September.

For his part, however, Selim Azzabi, general coordinator of Tunisia’s political party Tahya Tounes, said the party will nominate Chahed for the election, according to the official Tunisian news agency.

The party’s spokesperson Ali Baccar as told AFP in press remarks that Chahed will stand in the country’s upcoming presidential election.

“Chahed is the candidate of the Tahya Tounes party” for the September 15 election The prime minister will discuss his candidature “after the end of the (seven-day) mourning period” for Essebsi, who died last week aged 92.

Originally scheduled for November, the vote was brought forward following Essebsi’s death on July 25.

Presidential hopefuls must formally submit their candidacy between August 2 and August 9.

Launched at the start of the year, Chahed’s Tahia Tounes has become the second largest party in parliament, behind Islamist-inspired Ennahdha.

Tahya Tounes, which split off from Caid Essebsi’s party this year, is now the biggest liberal group in Tunisia’s parliament. It governs in coalition with the Islamist Ennahda Party and a smaller liberal group.

Ennahda has not yet named its candidate for the presidency, however, it has been seeking to take advantage of Chahed’s smooth political promotions and the support of his government, exploiting his disagreements with the Nidaa Tounes party, hoping to once more control the government or pass whatever laws that might benefit it.

Chahed was known to be Ennahda’s man within the Tunisian government. The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated party supported Chahed’s government during the protests that hit the country in 2018 following a surge in inflation rates and low salaries.

The failure of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is primarily due to the attempts of its leaders to control the reins of government and to gain political gains and positions, whether the presidency, the government or parliament, and to eliminate the rest of parties and factions in the country.

After failing to do so and toppled by the 2013 popular revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia learned the lesson and sought to open the door to the participation of other factions beside them, lest their communities reject and expel them outside the political game.

Political Science professor Tarek Fahmy told The Reference in an interview that the scene is currently unclear in Tunisia, pointing out that Abdelfattah Mourou is the closest person to be nominated by Ennahda, however, both Mourou and Chahed might be nominated, especially that nominating him will provide a sign that the movement does not want to control the scene.

Fahmy sees that the party is split into two parties, the first one sees that the party should not count on only one candidate, therefore, nominating Chahed would also achieve the party’s goal to keep the existence of the brotherhood in the country in a way or another.

He further added that the other party sees that Mourou as the one who should be nominated, pointing out that this decision might be released by the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, however, the organization does not want to lose any grounds anywhere else.