July 04, 2013
TUNIS: Tunisia, birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings, criticized Thursday the Egyptian army’s removal of elected president Mohammad Mursi as “a coup against legitimacy” and urged Cairo to guarantee his safety.
Mursi rose to power after autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 uprising inspired by the popular revolt against dictatorship in Tunisia a few weeks before. Moderate Islamists were subsequently elected to govern Tunisia.
“Military intervention is totally unacceptable and we call on Egypt to ensure that Mursi is physically protected,” President Moncef Marzouki said.
“We view what is happening in Egypt with concern – the arrests of journalists and politicians.”
Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party denounced also what it called a “coup against legitimacy” in Egypt.
“Ennahda rejects what happened and believes legitimacy is represented by President Mursi and no one else,” Ennahda said in a statement.
It said it feared “this coup will fuel violence and extremism” and induce despair in the value of democracy.
Mursi was ousted after mass protests exceeding the size of those that toppled Mubarak.
Critics said Mursi fell because his Muslim Brotherhood, despite a limited electoral mandate, focused on seizing total control of the state rather than tackling myriad problems of economic breakdown and poor governance.
At a joint news conference with Marzouki, visiting French President Francois Hollande declined to speak of a coup in Egypt, saying merely that “the democratic process has stopped and must return.”
“What going on here in Tunisia is a transition that is controlled and organized,” he said. “What is clear is there is also an obligation for you to succeed because you are an example, you give many people in the Arab world hope.”
The role of Islam has grown in Tunisian society and been enshrined in a new constitution since Ennahda’s election in 2011, but religious-secular divisions are seen as less severe and volatile than in Egypt.
Highlighting how Mursi’s ouster has influenced Tunisia, a movement called Tamarod has launched a petition to have Tunis’ National Assembly dissolved, one of its organizers said Thursday.
In Egypt, the grassroots movement Tamarod (Rebel) was the group that mobilized anti-Mursi protests.
“We don’t want any support from the political parties to protect our credibility,” Mohammad Bennour told AFP.
His comments came shortly after the head of the ruling Islamist party, Rached Ghannouchi, dismissed suggestions that the massive protests in Egypt might be repeated in Tunisia.
“We have taken a serious strategy based on consensus especially between the Islamist and modernist movements, which has saved our country from the risk of divisions,” Ghannouchi told the pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat.
But Bennour, who called himself a “rebel,” and said he was “employed in a business,” claimed that 180,000 signatures had been gathered in the past three days for the anti-government petition, “essentially by going from door to door around Tunisia.”
The claim could not be verified, but the group’s Facebook page has less than 4,500 members and the online petition has less than 10,000 signatures.
The National Assembly was elected in October 2011, months after the popular uprising that toppled veteran strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and touched off Arab Spring revolutions across the region.
Tunisia has failed to adopt a new constitution, due to a lack of consensus among MPs, with the first reading of the draft charter Monday degenerating into chaos.
The National Assembly has also been repeatedly criticized for its inefficiency and the nonattendance of members.
Last March, Ennahda responded to pressure from the secular opposition and accepted the appointment of independent ministers to deflect accusations that it aimed to control all aspects of the state and stifle social freedoms.
Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-04/222570-tunisias-islamists-slam-flagrant-coup-in-egypt.ashx.
TUNIS: Tunisia, birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings, criticized Thursday the Egyptian army’s removal of elected president Mohammad Mursi as “a coup against legitimacy” and urged Cairo to guarantee his safety.
Mursi rose to power after autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 uprising inspired by the popular revolt against dictatorship in Tunisia a few weeks before. Moderate Islamists were subsequently elected to govern Tunisia.
“Military intervention is totally unacceptable and we call on Egypt to ensure that Mursi is physically protected,” President Moncef Marzouki said.
“We view what is happening in Egypt with concern – the arrests of journalists and politicians.”
Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party denounced also what it called a “coup against legitimacy” in Egypt.
“Ennahda rejects what happened and believes legitimacy is represented by President Mursi and no one else,” Ennahda said in a statement.
It said it feared “this coup will fuel violence and extremism” and induce despair in the value of democracy.
Mursi was ousted after mass protests exceeding the size of those that toppled Mubarak.
Critics said Mursi fell because his Muslim Brotherhood, despite a limited electoral mandate, focused on seizing total control of the state rather than tackling myriad problems of economic breakdown and poor governance.
At a joint news conference with Marzouki, visiting French President Francois Hollande declined to speak of a coup in Egypt, saying merely that “the democratic process has stopped and must return.”
“What going on here in Tunisia is a transition that is controlled and organized,” he said. “What is clear is there is also an obligation for you to succeed because you are an example, you give many people in the Arab world hope.”
The role of Islam has grown in Tunisian society and been enshrined in a new constitution since Ennahda’s election in 2011, but religious-secular divisions are seen as less severe and volatile than in Egypt.
Highlighting how Mursi’s ouster has influenced Tunisia, a movement called Tamarod has launched a petition to have Tunis’ National Assembly dissolved, one of its organizers said Thursday.
In Egypt, the grassroots movement Tamarod (Rebel) was the group that mobilized anti-Mursi protests.
“We don’t want any support from the political parties to protect our credibility,” Mohammad Bennour told AFP.
His comments came shortly after the head of the ruling Islamist party, Rached Ghannouchi, dismissed suggestions that the massive protests in Egypt might be repeated in Tunisia.
“We have taken a serious strategy based on consensus especially between the Islamist and modernist movements, which has saved our country from the risk of divisions,” Ghannouchi told the pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat.
But Bennour, who called himself a “rebel,” and said he was “employed in a business,” claimed that 180,000 signatures had been gathered in the past three days for the anti-government petition, “essentially by going from door to door around Tunisia.”
The claim could not be verified, but the group’s Facebook page has less than 4,500 members and the online petition has less than 10,000 signatures.
The National Assembly was elected in October 2011, months after the popular uprising that toppled veteran strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and touched off Arab Spring revolutions across the region.
Tunisia has failed to adopt a new constitution, due to a lack of consensus among MPs, with the first reading of the draft charter Monday degenerating into chaos.
The National Assembly has also been repeatedly criticized for its inefficiency and the nonattendance of members.
Last March, Ennahda responded to pressure from the secular opposition and accepted the appointment of independent ministers to deflect accusations that it aimed to control all aspects of the state and stifle social freedoms.
Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-04/222570-tunisias-islamists-slam-flagrant-coup-in-egypt.ashx.
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