Ennahda Movement returns to Tunisian politics

Islamic party leader Rachid Ghannouchi pledged his commitment to democracy and women's rights, but some Tunisians remain unconvinced.

By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 09/02/11

The Ennahda Movement, banned under former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, held a press conference in Tunis on Monday (February 7th).

"The movement is committed to democracy and to the people's right in choosing their president through elections," said party leader Rachid Ghannouchi, who returned to Tunisia on January 30th after 22 years of exile.

"On the agenda of the movement are: building on the gains achieved by women, as manifested in the Personal Status Code (CSP), improving women's lives and underscoring their positive role on the political, social and cultural arena, so they could effectively take part in advancing society," he said.

The party speech focused on modernism, respect for human rights and the need to preserve the gains of freedom achieved by Tunisia. According to Ennahda, these values are in line with the Islamic precepts.

The Islamic party showcased their structures, made up of a president, a founding council and an executive office. They also presented their statute, which was registered a week ago at the Interior Ministry to secure a permit for engaging in legal work. Engineer Ali Laaridh was selected as head of the founding council and engineer Hammadi Jbeli as secretary-general.

"The movement will be holding its conference within a month. Abdel Latif Al-Mekki, a student leader, was charged with heading the conference," Ghannouchi said.

Asked about the prerequisites for membership in the party, the leader explained that "they include being at least 18 years of age, not belonging to any other party and obtaining the recommendation of three members in the party."

Ghannouchi also emphasized that "the movement is currently seeking to expand the makeup of its founding institution, so it would include qualified resources from across the country".

Sahbi Atig, professor of Islamic sciences and member of the party executive office, said during the conference, "Some are striving to dress us in a non-Tunisian guise. That is not acceptable. We are a national Tunisian movement that combines the values of Islam and those of modernism. We adopt a moderate line of thinking."

For his part, Hammadi Jbeli responded to the charges leveled against the movement, accusing it of burning down the headquarters of the former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, in which one person was killed. "What happened then was because of individual violations and the Movement condemned the incident," he said.

"We cannot deny that we made mistakes," said Ghannouchi. "Who does not? But we are learning from those mistakes so we could build a better homeland for all of us."

According to Ettajdid Movement member Adel Chaouch, "Fear of the Islamic movement in Tunisia goes back to twenty years ago, particularly that during that time, the movement had two types of discourse, one that was decidedly hard-line and the other ambiguous."

"At present, it is in their best interest to change the tone of their discourse, and that they are convinced of. They are also learning from their mistakes and want to reassure Tunisians. Further, their support of the CSP is another reassurance," he said.

Chaouch added that "in an Islamic state, there must be a form of expression that represents the Islamic trend. It does not make sense to alienate a large proportion of the Tunisians. All opinions must be accepted. So why can't the Islamic Ennahda Movement have a role to play on the political arena? But, admittedly, the movement is still feared by the elite in Tunisia."

Some, however, consider the Ennahda modernist discourse too good to be true.

"Frankly, I am still having doubts about the Ennahda Movement as there are no guarantees. But surely the movement has a right to practice their political ideas through a legally recognized party," said Bochra Bel Haj Hmida, a member of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD).

"ATFD, now more than ever, are demanding that the Tunisian constitution recognize the rights women gained so all political powers in Tunisia would be committed to implementing them," she said.

Hedia ben Amor, a young veiled woman, told Magharebia, "Though I wear a veil and observe all religious obligations, I fear the Ennahda Movement because we often hear they are hard-line fanatics and so are likely to drag us to the way things were hundreds of years ago."

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/02/09/feature-03.