Where did the Tunisian Ennahda party go wrong?

As of this writing, and two days after Tunisia made the headlines following the decisions issued by Tunisian President Kais Saied on the night of Sunday 25 July, which were seen as a "coup", or at best an improper interpretation of the Tunisian constitution, we can say that the party Al-Nahda made 3 major mistakes that contributed to the ignition of this crisis, and also contributed to determining the path it took.

The first

mistake is a strategic mistake that began with the beginning of the Tunisian revolution and has continued throughout the past decade. It is linked to the political party's project itself and the priorities it set for the transitional period.

This mistake is separating political demands from economic and social demands, and this separation is a strategic mistake. For the politician, democracy is important because it controls the rules of the political game, but for the citizen it is important if it is able to work well, providing jobs for the unemployed, bringing justice to the oppressed, and alleviating problems. the social in which the citizens live;

In the eyes of the ordinary citizen, democracy is not important in itself, but rather important with the benefits and services it provides.

The second mistake that Ennahda made is a mistake that has manifested itself over the past few months and has largely shown that the party is unable to interact with the new political scene.

If elections are conducted fairly, parties compete fiercely, and political faces change from one round to another without this being accompanied by any change in people’s standard of living and living, then it will not be surprising that large sectors of citizens begin to question democracy and question the difference between the system The current democracy and the former authoritarian regime. Ennahda made its primary goal to ensure a democratic transition, which is an important political requirement par excellence, but at the same time it forgot that the result of this democratic transition must not be limited to ensuring the integrity of the elections, but must also include ensuring an improvement in the life of the Tunisian citizen. And the results of the sixth cycle of the Arab Barometer, issued in 2021, showed that one in 10 or less among Tunisians says that the economic conditions are positive in the country, while two thirds of Tunisians say they fear losing their source of income within the next 12 months.In such circumstances, people will be expected to start questioning the usefulness of democracy if it is not able to improve their lives.

The second mistake

Ennahda made is one that has manifested itself over the past few months and has largely shown that the party is unable to interact with the new political scene. Ennahda adopted a permanent strategy of dialogue, negotiation, and political alliances with the political parties in order to get out of political crises and ensure the democratic transition. The condition for the success of this strategy is the desire of the main political parties to conclude such understandings and consensus. The desire of one party to conclude such understandings is not enough. Rather, it must be accompanied by similar wishes from other parties. The ability to agree on political packages that guarantee a way out of political crises was a feature of the Tunisian scene after the revolution, a feature that was absent from many Arab countries.

But the actions of Qais Saeed in recent months have made it clear that he does not have this desire to conclude agreements, as the man makes gains with empty speeches of content but loud voice, and he is more concerned with representative and outward performance than with political and service performance. Moreover, he has shown on several occasions his desire to bypass the constitution. If the man sitting in the Presidency of the Tunisian Republic showed such desires to bypass the constitution, and he had no desire to conclude political understandings, and was suspicious of bidding and populist rhetoric, then all these are indicators that push Ennahda to review its strategy, not necessarily in order to replace it with another strategy, but in order to Interact with this new situation with different mechanisms and means from those used in the past.In recent months, Ennahda seemed to be accustomed to a certain form of political behavior and behavior, and that it was unable to interact with the new context that is forming in Tunisia, and instead of being in the action category, it remained in the field of reaction, hoping to avoid the worst scenario, but this Unfortunately it did not happen.

This brings us to the third error, which is represented by a number of executive errors par excellence related to the behavior of Ennahda on the night of Qais Saeed's decisions.

The first minutes of such political crises are decisive in determining its course, but the Renaissance in the early hours fell into a strangely slow reaction, as the party held a meeting on the night of the coup that lasted for hours to come up with a decision that was implemented before dawn.

While there were signs of confusion, and a question about whether the army and the interior would respond to Qais Saeed's decisions, and whether there was opposition within these institutions to such decisions, Saeed, after issuing orders to the various authorities, moved himself to make sure that these authorities would implement what He is required of them, and has worked to eliminate by himself any possibility of hesitation or reluctance that may occur within these institutions.

On this night, however, Hizb and Ghannouchi seemed to be slack and slack.

If the party has taken a decision to go to the House of Representatives, it is nothing less than summoning most of the members of the parliamentary bloc of Ennahda (as well as the other parties) to go with Ghannouchi, instead of the scene appearing in the end in the form of an old man, a woman and a small group of people begging the army officer to open the doors of the parliament Representatives. And if there is a decision to sit in the head of the party in front of the House of Representatives, where are the crowds that will stand by him and support him in this decision? These decisions were too late, and they were poorly executed. Ghannouchi is a veteran politician, who lived through various political experiences and went through multiple political crises, from which he was able to get out with minimal losses, but on this night he had the effects of illness and age together. As for the party, tonight it has shown that its machine is not working properly.

Such mistakes made by the Ennahda Party should not forget the real culprit of this crisis, Kais Saied and his decisions. Ennahda made mistakes, some of which we mentioned, but Kais Saied made a mistake by violating the constitution, disrupting elected institutions, and exploiting people's living and economic pain in order to strengthen its grip on power. In any case, I still think that Tunisia has the possibility to get out of this crisis with much less losses than other neighboring countries, and we hope that the coming days will turn this wish into reality.