The moderate Islamist Ennahda movement has returned to the forefront of the political scene in Tunisia after supporting the newly-formed government headed by Hichem Mechichi.
Indeed, it has convinced its allies in parliament, the Heart of Tunisia party, to vote for the new cabinet, at the expense of two former members of the outgoing government coalition: The Democratic Current and People's Movement. The latter two have effectively exited power after just six months of joining the coalition.
Observers said Ennahda has taken advantage of the failure of its rivals in taking a unified stance on the new government and on President Kais Saied’s proposal on the government. They explained that Ennahda exploited Saied’s involvement in the government formation process and his tasking of a figure, who was not proposed by any of the parliamentary blocs, to head it. It also took advantage of the parties’ failure to defend the option to establish a cabinet of independent figures.
Political analyst Hichem Bouaziz said Ennahda exploited the errors committed by Saied and that ultimately led to divisions with Mechichi. Those disputes forced the PM-designate to seek out parliament Speaker Rached al-Ghannouchi, the Ennahda movement leader.
Ghannouchi came to Mechichi’s aid and offered him the support of his 54-member parliamentary bloc. He also persuaded the Heart of Tunisia bloc to vote for his cabinet lineup.
Ennahda managed to overcome the government formation process with minimal damage despite efforts to withdraw confidence from Ghannouchi at one point, said Bouaziz. Ennahda had also come under a fierce campaign to exclude it from the new government.
Ultimately, the new cabinet won a comfortable vote of confidence at parliament last week with 134 MPs voting in favor.
Prior to the vote, the Free Destourian Party had worked tirelessly to exclude Ennahda from the government, accusing the movement of supporting the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood.
In the end, the Tunisian opposition now appears radically different and divided, with the Democratic Current and People's Movement now joining its ranks after they were dropped from the government coalition. They join the Free Destourian Party and Dignity Coalition.
Divisions remain among these parties, with doubts raised over just how much they will be able to lead the opposition in this new phase in Tunisia.
