A motorcycle helmet and bulletproof vest to protect against ” threat “ endangering his life. On Tuesday, May 4, Tunisian MP Abir Moussi struck hard in the chamber, with this outfit, to protest against the fact that her security agents are banned from entering Parliament. She accuses the president of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP), Rached Ghannouchi, also leader of the Islamo-conservative Ennahda party, of being at the origin – even if no security agent is authorized within the plenary.
The scene sums up the daily life of the ARP since the legislative elections of 2019. The assembly has become the scene of confrontations between Mr.me Moussi, head of the Free Destourien Party (PDL, a right-wing party nostalgic for the Ben Ali era), and Ennahda, the first party in terms of number of seats in the ARP since 2011.
“The current phase is really complicated, because we are facing both a very fragmented Parliament and the rise of populism embodied by Abir Moussi, says Khalil Baraoumi, member of the executive board of Ennahda. She speaks of political violence against her, but it is also she who is the source of violence, with her party, when she blocks plenary sessions. “
The jousting of the assembly is not the only turmoil that Ennahda is going through. The main challenge facing the party is the erosion of its electoral base. Since the 2011 elections, it has lost two-thirds of its electorate (dropping from 1.5 million to 560,000 votes) and 40% of its seat capital in the ARP (from 89 to 52 deputies). It struggles to maintain its influence in the current political configuration. Partisan of dialogue and consensus in the face of his political opponents, with whom he has governed for ten years through various coalitions, he must defend and attack on several fronts.
A cabinet reshuffle refused by the president
Outside the assembly, he is in opposition to the Head of State, Kaïs Saïed, whose temptation of personal power he denounces as well as the refusal to adhere to the “national dialogue” initiative reactivated by the Union. Tunisian General of Labor (UGTT) in order to face the political and socio-economic crisis. In 2013, when Tunisia was plunged into instability after two political assassinations, this approach had eased tensions and earned the country the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. But this time, the attempt is stalled.
On February 27, in the midst of a health crisis, Ennahda organized a massive rally in Tunis, in support of the government of Hichem Mechichi, which is in trouble with the head of state. The demonstration, which gathered nearly 80,000 participants according to the party (25,000 according to the police), was also a way of “Remember that we can mobilize much more than others”, underlines Ridha Driss, member of the executive board: “ There was a fed up with the half-veiled attacks of the President of the Republic in each of his speeches and with the blockage caused by his refusal to accept the current reshuffle. “
Since mid-February, Mr. Saïed has been contesting the ministerial reshuffle decided by Mr. Mechichi, in particular because of the appointment of ministers suspected of corruption. “The government manages the country with eleven ministers, for lack of agreement on the rest, denounces Sana Mersni, deputy Ennahda. We cannot deny the current political crisis. The President of the Republic interprets the Constitution a little as he wants, it is a rather unprecedented situation. “
In response to this continuing blockage, the February show of force was symbolic. “We collected many new memberships just after the event, especially young people”, assures Ahmed Gaaloul, adviser to Mr. Ghannouchi. The party has 108,000 members and claims 14,000 new memberships between 2020 and 2021.
“Ennahda rather plays on the front of centrism”
Another small victory for Ennahda: the vote, on May 4, of the law on the Constitutional Court, a sea serpent since the Constitution of 2014 provided for its creation. The deputies could not agree on the election of its members. The absence of a Constitutional Court has often been a handicap for the harmonious functioning of the institutions, in particular during the vacancy of power, in the summer of 2019, following the death in office of the former head of state, Béji. Caid Essebsi.
“The acceleration around the vote on this law and the large number of votes collected show that the imminent danger for Ennahda is not necessarily the political conflict with Abir Moussi, but rather the institutional threat represented by Kaïs’ interpretations of the Constitution. Saïed, explains Zyed Krichen, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language daily Maghreb. The head of state maintains a certain popularity and the party fears that he will end up broadening his skills by playing on the text. “
A Constitutional Court would make it possible to reserve the interpretation of the Constitution to an independent body and not to the presidency. By assembling a parliamentary majority on the vote, Ennahda secures the power of Parliament against the executive.
Absorbed by all these political constraints, Ennahda however struggles to deepen his aggiornamento doctrinal, according to Mr. Krichen. Opposition party under Ben Ali, it has not been able to engage in deep reflection since the revolution, except for the turning point taken in 2016 with its official party transformation “Islamist” in part “Civilian”. “Today, he plays more on the front of centrism by standing as the guarantor of democracy in the face of populist temptations, adds Mr Krichen. Shis strategy, however, remains to protect the survival of the party. “
Some deputies and executives slammed the door
To do this, he must also opt for a problematic pragmatism by allying himself in Parliament with the sulphurous Al Karama, a radical conservative movement. The violent declarations of some of its members and even the attacks against other deputies are often condemned too late and superficially by Mr. Ghannouchi. “It is true that Al Karama often votes with us, but we do not endorse his actions, says Driss. She also remains a political opponent, insofar as 90% of her voters were taken from our electoral bases. “ Al Karama is no less perceived as the radical appendix of Ennahda and a strong ally in the face of parliamentary fragmentation.
Ennahda is also struggling to question himself because of internal conflicts that have emerged around Mr. Ghannouchi’s personality and his personal hold on the party. Some deputies and executives have slammed the door, others do not hesitate to openly criticize Ennahda, especially during the choice of the first head of government resulting from the elections of autumn 2019. Many members then did not agree with the choice of the party leadership to support the nomination of Habib Jemli – who ultimately did not gain the confidence of Parliament.
These internal dissensions, unusual for a party which makes the discipline of voting its brand image, will weigh on the conduct of the next congress, the date of which, after much procrastination, has finally been set for December. “But we don’t know if it will take place, it has been postponed so many times”, criticizes a party dissident. Those in charge of the organization assure that the preparations are well underway. Mr. Ghannouchi would be a priori ready to finally give up his place as boss of Ennahda; a renewal which would constitute a radical change for a party identified for thirty years with this intellectual and thinker of political Islam.