Ghannouchi clinging to power threatens future of Tunisian Brotherhood

Fatima Abdul Ghani

Ennahda, the Brotherhood’s arm in Tunisia, is approaching a political abyss at a steady pace. Perhaps the reason for this is due to the personalization practiced by its head, Rached Ghannouchi, and his sole decision-making.

According to media reports, there are numerous indications of the movement’s rift, the most prominent of which is the increase in resignations, as the past months have witnessed the resignation of a number of prominent leaders, including Abdelfattah Mourou, the number two man in the movement, as well as Abdul Hamid al-Jalasi and Ziad al-Athari, in addition to youth leaders.

The rift is also apparent in the formation of an internal opposition front, known as the Group of Hundred, which is against Ghannouchi continuing in his position.

The latest features of the rift and divisions within the Tunisian Brotherhood include the failure of the meeting of Ennahda’s Shura Council on Sunday, November 16, after a third of the members of the council withdrew from the meeting for the first time in the history of the movement.

The local Mosaique FM radio station reported from its sources that a group of 63 Ennahda members had signed a petition to request the holding of an extraordinary session of the Shura Council, provided that its agenda would include two axes: deliberating on national affairs, especially the epidemiological situation, the law of finance and the social situation, and then also the movement’s internal affairs, including the issue of the current division and the issue of law enforcement.

On Sunday, the group was surprised by the Shura Council’s call for its members to convene in an extraordinary ordinary session. The agenda included holding accountable those who made media statements from the anti-Ghannouchi group, as well as deliberating the work of committees already suspended due to the corona pandemic and the internal situation of the movement.

Sources close to the meeting attributed the reasons for the withdrawal of 60 leaders to the intention of “party leaders to pursue a policy of escaping forward by ignoring the demands of discussing the crisis within the movement and deciding on the issue of Ghannouchi’s extension.”

Ghannouchi faces great criticism within his party, especially amid accusations of him monopolizing the party, its finances, and the exclusivity of opinion by opposition leaders that have become a majority in the movement, in addition to calls for him to step down from his position and to respect the party’s internal system, which ended with the resignation of prominent leaders due to the ambiguity of Ghannouchi’s position on the issue of running for a third term.

It is noteworthy that Article 31 of the movement’s by-laws stipulates that no member has the right to assume the leadership of the party for more than two consecutive terms, and the head of the party shall devote himself to his duties upon his election.

Faced with this reality and according to informed reports, possible scenarios can be drawn up for the future of Ennahda, the first of which is the division of the movement into two parties. One would be the traditional party headed by Ghannouchi, and the second would be a modernist party that includes those who resigned, the Group of Hundred and youth leaders.

The second scenario includes Ghannouchi’s circumvention of his opponents by nominating one of those close to him to succeed him, thus preserving his leadership of Ennahda in the shadows.

As for the third scenario, it is a hybrid of the first two, in which an internal referendum would be held or amending the statute of the movement to vote to provide an exit that would decide whether to allow Ghannouchi to run for a new term or not.

Tunisian observers expect that the coming weeks will reveal new differences within the movement, especially with Ghannouchi’s insistence to remain its leader.