National Salvation Front;

A front whose establishment was announced on May 31, 2022, by Tunisian politician Ahmed Najib Chebbi, a body that gathers political forces opposed to Tunisian President Kais Saied, and raised the banner of confronting the "exceptional measures" that he initiated since July 25, 2021.

On July 25, 2021, Kais Saied announced "exceptional measures" based on his interpretation of Article 89 of the Constitution, which grants the president broad powers in the event of "imminent danger."

Accordingly, he took a series of measures, starting with the dismissal of the government headed by Hisham Al-Mashishi (he appointed another in its place two months later, headed by Naglaa Boden), freezing the parliament, lifting the immunity of its members and bringing some of them to trial, and personally assumed the executive and legislative authority.

Later, Saeed issued a series of decrees that canceled most of the provisions of the 2014 constitution, formed a committee to rewrite the constitution, and appointed new members to the Supreme Judicial Council, an independent body tasked with appointing or removing judges.

In June 2022, 57 judges, including the former head of the council, were dismissed.

Birth and founding

On April 23, 2022, a meeting of opposition parties and associations was held, chaired by the leader of the Hope Party, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, in order to form the "National Salvation Front", which was formed on May 3, 2022.

Five parties joined the front, namely, the Ennahda Movement (it was the most represented in the dissolved parliament), the Heart of Tunisia alliance, the Dignity Coalition, the Tunisia Willing Movement, and the Amal Party, in addition to the "Citizens Against the Coup" campaign, the Gathering for Tunisia initiative, and a number of parliamentarians.


Thought and ideology

Chebbi defines the front as "a work force for the emergence of a national salvation government, so that Tunisia emerges from the double social and political crisis."

The National Salvation Front affirms its adherence to the constitution of January 27, 2014, and considers it the only reference to the country's "constitutional legitimacy".

You also see that the political choices of President Qais after July 25th plunged the country into stifling international isolation.

Among its objectives:

  • The resumption of the democratic and constitutional path and the unification of the opposition in order to "overthrow the coup and bring down the Qais Said project."

  • Forming a democratic alternative that can establish a sustainable democracy that respects freedom and guarantees rights and economic prosperity.

  • Drawing a "rescue map" to resume the constitutional process with the participation of democratic forces and elites.

  • Establishing a national consensus by uniting the opposition, through a comprehensive dialogue that leads to early general elections, and the appointment of a government that will save the economic, social and political situation.

  • Addressing efforts to control the judiciary.

Flags and symbols

The head of the opposition National Salvation Front in Tunisia, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, during a press conference for the front (social networking sites)

Ahmed Najib Chebbi

Tunisian lawyer and politician, born on July 30, 1944, he headed the supreme political body of the Republican Party in April 2012.

He is a founding member and member of the Political Bureau of the "Democratic Progressive Party" and held the position there between 1983 and 2006, in addition to heading the political body of the Hope Party.

He held the position of Minister of Regional Development and Planning between January and March 2011.

He was a deputy in the National Constituent Assembly (the first parliament after the 2011 revolution), and contributed to the establishment of the October 18 Front, and held the position of publishing director for the weekly newspaper "Al-Mawkif".

Shaima Issa

A Tunisian poet and academic, she studied fine arts in Tunisia and Rome, and graduated from Al-Zaytoonah University with a major in Islamic thinking and Sharia sciences.

She belongs to the Comparative Religion Unit of the French Sorbonne University, and has written many research and articles in this field.

A book entitled "Maqamat for the Swing of Death" was published for her by her Islamic political father, Issa al-Ibrahim.

Member of the executive body of the democratic initiative "Citizens Against the Coup".


Highlights

During the vigil in the capital on April 10, 2022, Ahmed Najib Chebbi announced his initiative by calling for the formation of the National Salvation Front.

On May 20, 2022, the Front denounced what it called "the use of the military judiciary in order to track political opponents, increase political trials, and refer civilians to military justice in a manner that violates the constitution and international laws and treaties."

On May 21, 2022, the Front announced that the Preparatory Commission for the Referendum had been formed by President Qais Saeed as “unilateral, illegal or legal,” and considered it “a violation of the constitution and lacking credibility conditions.”

The Front condemned the dismissal of 57 judges.

On May 25, 2022, the Front denounced the "unprecedented escalation of political trials in security targeting of MPs, opponents, politicians and bloggers," and announced a decision to form a legal team to follow up on political cases and trials.

On May 26, 2022, the Front issued a statement condemning the attempt to "overthrow the legitimate leadership" of the National Peasants' Union "by installing a loyal leadership represented by Noureddine bin Ayyad from the Consultative Body for a New Republic."

Chebbi said at a popular meeting in the city of Gafsa (southwest of Tunisia) on May 29, 2022 that the front supports the formation of a government of "national salvation".


On May 30, 2022, the Front announced its support for Dr. Abu Yarub Al-Marzouki, considering his appearance before the Anti-Crime Squad an "attack on the state's law on freedom of opinion", and expressed its solidarity with all opposition media professionals and bloggers.

The commission condemned the attempt by groups loyal to the Tunisian government to prevent its two meetings, which took place on the fourth and fifth of June 2022.

On June 9, 2022, the commission affirmed its "absolute" support for the legitimate judicial authority, and called on all citizens to organize demonstrations in support of judges in their strike before the courts of first instance.

She also affirmed her support for the petition signed by dozens of university students and former deans against "the university's employment for political interests."

On June 10, 2022, the Front announced that it will engage in protest movements that include all states of the republic, in rejection of the presidential decision that dismissed 57 judges.

On June 24, 2022, it issued a statement rejecting the detention of former Prime Minister Hamadi Al-Jabali without judicial permission, and expressed its position on the "propaganda and defamatory campaigns carried out by the Ministry of Interior against the judicial authority."

On July 5, 2022, the commission said that the proposed draft constitution would set Tunisia back "five decades", which is contrary to what the December 17, 2010 revolution was established for.

On July 23, 2022, she condemned the “suppression” of the peaceful assembly in the capital on July 22, 2022, called by the Coalition of Societies to boycott the constitutional referendum.

On July 26, 2022, after the closure of the polling stations for the referendum on the new constitution, the Front announced that the numbers announced by the body supervising the referendum were far from the observed voter apathy, which reinforces "doubts about the impartiality, independence and credibility" of the body.