Ennahda’s disappointment and deep crisis: Brotherhood support for Kais Saied in runoff

Doaa Emam

Tunisian political parties paid no attention to the results of the polls and referendums issued by independent presidential candidate Kais Saied, and with the closing of the ballot boxes in the first round, confirmed that he reached the second round of the 2019 presidential elections by a large margin in front of his rival, businessman Nabil Karoui.

Brotherhood support for Saied

The head of the Ennahda Shura Council, Abdul Karim al-Harouni, wrote a post on his Facebook account calling to stand next to the conservative candidate, and then he began to delete it hours after posting it.

On Wednesday, September 18, Rached Ghannouchi’s brother-in-law, Rafik Abdessalam, confirmed that he would support Kais Saied, saying, “We will not remain neutral, and I will push for the support of Dr. Kais Saied, because of his proximity to the pulse of the revolution and the spirit of the youth,” refusing to nominate Ennahda’s Abdel Fattah Mourou from the beginning.

“We are required to carefully read the results of the presidential elections with an open mind and heart,” he said, adding what is needed is “more openness and communication with our animated and promising youth who are ignited with life and ambition” and “adhering more to the concerns of our people, especially the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups that have borne the burden of change more than others.”

The statements of Ennahda leaders raise questions about the movement’s relationship with the presidential candidate, especially since Ennahda’s representative failed to get enough votes to qualify for the second round of the presidential elections.

Ennahda’s disappointment and deep crisis

Tunisian political scientist Adel al-Samali said Ennahda is experiencing a deep internal crisis that cannot be determined. The crisis has existed and been deep since before the revolution, especially since many of its prominent elements decided to reconcile with former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and return from diaspora without political guarantees.

Samali explained that some refuse to link between the breakthrough created by Kais Saied in the political scene and the supporters of the Tunisian Ennahda movement, considering the official and confirmed candidate for the movement is Abdel Fattah Mourou. It is illogical that Ennahda supporters would disobey the charismatic leadership of Rached Ghannouchi and turn in large numbers to elect Saied, who is theoretically a political opponent in the presidential elections.

However, based on indications of support within Ennahda for Saied, Samali stressed that the Ansar bloc, which is angry at Ghannouchi and has political and fundamentalist misgivings about the movement’s policies, went to the ballot boxes and elected the conservative presidential candidate in a movement of anger and open disobedience, which likely gave Saied votes that would have gone to Mourou.

Implications of the ballot

Samali pointed out that the Ennahda leadership was aware of the fall of its candidate as soon as the ballot boxes were closed, putting them in a confusing situation. They tried to deny and question the results to gain time and out of fear of splitting the base. Ennahda’s supporters were lost between the leadership’s calls to wait for the official results and the reality of the expected final results based on the exit polls circulated by local and international media.

Ennahda is concerned about the repercussions of the results of the presidential elections on the legislative elections, which has caused them all this confusion and contradiction, Samali said, adding, “It seems that we will again live legislative elections no less an earthquake than the presidential. But is Ennahda aware of this tough lesson?”

Samali added that Saied, who led in the first round of voting, said he rejects any alliance with a political party or coalition, instead sticking to his project based on a new political and administrative system centered on central democracy.

“There is no alliance between political parties or with a party or coalition of parties, there is a project,” the independent said after the results were announced, adding that anyone who wanted to join him was free to do so.

Tunisia witnessed early presidential elections on Sunday, September 15, and the Independent High Electoral Commission in Tunisia announced the results of the first round of the elections, pointing out that a second round will be held between two candidates, Kais Saied and Nabil Karoui, because no candidate received more than 50 percent of valid votes.