Tunisian Opposition Parties Avoid Alliance with Ennahda

Tunisia’s president Kais Saied takes the oath of office at the Assembly of People’s Representatives in Tunis, Tunisia October 23, 2019 (REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi)

The Tunisian opposition - consisting mainly of a group of leftist parties, the Free Constitutional Party and the National Salvation Front, in addition to the Tunisian General Labor Union - continues to engage in a sharp confrontation with President Kais Saied’s political path, but without uniting on one front, or in a specific bloc.

Each of these parties – with different political and electoral considerations – have expressed serious concerns about supporting the moves of the National Salvation Front, which is backed by the leaders of the Ennahda movement.

In this context, Hisham Al-Ajbouni, a leader in the opposition Democratic Current Party, renewed his rejection of the July 25, 2021 path, and rejected rapprochement with the Front, despite the two parties’ engagement against the existing authority.

Al-Ajbouni cited several reasons for his party’s decision, including “the need for [Ennahda Movement] to recognize the grave mistakes it committed during the ten years in which it led the Tunisian political scene.”

He added that the movement should “remove the symbols of political failure,” whom he held responsible for the exceptional measures taken by the president at that time.

A large number of opposition parties “cannot forget the miserable failure in managing public affairs, and the many disagreements they witnessed during the rule of Ennahda movement,” according to the Tunisian politician.

Asked about the difficulties facing the coordination between the political and social parties opposing the president’s path, Jamal Larafaoui, a Tunisian political analyst, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “There are several disagreements that divide the ranks of the Tunisian opposition, most of them are ideological.”

He explained: “The leftist parties are not reassured by presence of the deputies of political Islam, and refuse any participation with them,” adding: “Similarly, the Free Constitutional Party, which is led by Abeer Moussa, opposes the existing authority, but at the same time calls for the removal of representatives of political Islam, led by Ennahda Movement, for they “threaten the democratic path and the civil state.”