Interviewed by Tunisia / Amal Hilali

In a dialogue with Al-Jazeera Net, the head of the Al-Nahdha Consultative Council, Abdel-Karim Harouni, said that Tunisia lost the departure of Al-Baji Kayed Sibsi, a statesman who maintained the experience of democratic transition and prevention of foreign interference. Presidential elections.

The full text of the dialogue follows:

How did you accept within the movement the news of the death of President Baiji Kayed Sibsi?

He was a statesman and a man of outstanding consensus, he maintained the sovereignty of Tunisia and prevented foreign interventions that tried to abort the democratic transition experience in the country and worked on reconciliation between the constitutional and Islamic trends, This is evident in the famous Paris meeting between him and the head of the movement Rashid Ghannouchi.

You referred to the Paris meeting, is it possible to say that al-Sevsi credited the presence of the Renaissance movement on the political scene in light of the revolutions in the Arab world and directed towards the elimination of Islamists from power?

The more correct is that the meeting between Ghannouchi and the Sebais saved Tunisia, especially after the coup d'état in Egypt, and after the tension experienced by the country following the assassination of left-wing leaders. Consensus between the two men side Tunisia serious scenarios, and laid the ground for the national dialogue and access to a consensus constitution.

Does the president's death lead the Nahdha movement to change its priorities and choices in presenting candidates for legislative and presidential elections in particular?

We are preparing for the legislative elections, and we have already begun to submit lists of our candidates. The head of the movement, Rashid Ghannouchi, will enter parliament as a deputy in the first stage, and we will examine all the options in the light of the president's death.

We understand from your words that there is a possibility that al-Ghannouchi will change his priorities from running for parliament to running for president, in the light of the president's death, especially after the election commission announced the date of the presidential elections before the legislative elections.

All the options are on the table, including the nomination of the president of the movement for the presidential elections, and we will examine the new situation and the nature of the role that the president of the movement will play within the state, but what we agree within the executive office, and unless the Shura Council opposes it, Because it is a stage we have overcome, and in turn, as a national leader, and the renaissance to strengthen its presence within the state through its president.

As you are talking about the nomination of Ghannouchi at the top of Tunisia's list for the legislative elections, your leaders and leaders have been issued with the conclusion that the president of the movement - his historical symbol - ends his political career as a member of parliament?

We respect all opinions, but in the old democracies and large parties, the leaders hold seats in parliament, let alone today in Tunisia under a republican system closer to parliament.

Do you have fears within the movement of the repercussions of the death of the president on the upcoming election stations and on the emerging democratic path in Tunisia?

There is no fear of Tunisia; the late president led the secretariat twice when he was prime minister in 2011 and contributed to the organization of the first free and fair elections and days before his death in 2019 when the order to invite Tunisians to the upcoming elections was signed.

The Supreme Electoral Commission announced the date of the presidential elections before the legislative elections, to set the date of 15 September instead of 17 November, how will they act as a movement?

We have full confidence in the electoral body to create a calendar that respects the constitution and reconcile the legislative and presidential elections. In such an exceptional situation, it is necessary to rearrange the priorities and provide an electoral atmosphere that respects the electoral law ratified by the parliament and the temporary committee to monitor the constitutionality of the laws. The late president can not bring him to the parliament or submit him to the referendum, and this is proof that his health status did not allow him.

But the election commission decided not to apply the revisions of the electoral law approved by parliament, and did not go to the president, as long as it was not published in the official gazette of the country?

This is the responsibility of the Parliament and the responsibility of the current President of the Republic, Mohamed Al-Nasser. I call upon the Parliament to give Tunisia a Constitutional Court on its constitutional day and to expedite the election of the rest of its members, even if deputies have to break their parliamentary holidays.

Abdul Karim Al Harouni (Al Jazeera)

And you are talking about the need to establish a constitutional court, your opponents in the parliamentary blocs accuse you of disrupting the meetings of consensus on the members of the Court by insisting on passing a particular candidate, Ayashi Hamami, what do you think?

It is our right as a movement and as a bloc in the parliament to discuss people in the first stage, but when we felt the accuracy of the stage in light of the consequences of not establishing the court and the election of its members we gave up and accepted the consensus, but other parties committed themselves to the consensus and then betrayed its promises. Because of its importance.

There are accusations of the head of the movement Rashid Ghannouchi and the Executive Office to give the logic of loyalty to the efficiency in determining candidates for electoral lists of legislation, how to respond to them?

The formation of the lists was made after the initial internal elections, during which we respected the internal law of the movement, and we maintained the principle of democracy, which is undoubtedly a complex process in two stages subject to several conditions of population and electoral weight and efficiency, but we preach those who bet on splits within the movement that they failed, An extraordinary meeting of a unified Shura Council, and talk about some splits and resignations are anomalies.

Is the talk of the former political adviser to Ghannouchi Lutfi Zaitoun in his blog about providing a logic of allegiance to the competence in determining the lists is also an abnormal position?

I consider that the position of the brother Zaytoun alone, he nominated for the "Tunis 1", and got a number of votes does not qualify him to be the head of the list, especially after the decision of the Executive Office nominate Ghannouchi at the top of the list, Not targeting people, we want a mass of discipline, harmony and diversity.

Are you accused of excluding women from the legislative lists, but they have won the confidence of the senior voters and led the movement's lists in more than 17 constituencies?

We recognize that the candidacy of the movement's women for the legislative elections is not enough until now, and we seek to strengthen their presence to a greater extent. The Renaissance honors the women of Tunisia in all electoral stations.

There are accusations from some leaders of the movement to seek Ghannouchi to punish every "free voice" within the movement, such as leader Mohammed bin Salem .. What do you think?

This is not true. The position of the leader Mohammed bin Salim is related to his performance in Parliament, his status in the Zaghouan constituency and an objective evaluation that has nothing to do with the opposing opinion. He is free to give his opinion.

Frankly .. Are you embarrassed by the statements of your leaders through the media and documents criticized the decisions of the Executive Office, and directed Siham criticism of Ghannouchi, especially as the movement has long been keen to encircle internal differences and prevent publication abroad?

What is embarrassing is the manner of statements and the way they are presented to the public, not their content, because in the movement it can be said that and more, we are always keen to have our differences within our institutions, and they are not published in the media. The parties that chose this approach as a method of pressure were doomed to split.

There is talk that Ghannouchi lined up with leaders of the Diaspora, specifically Britain, and the injustice of the movement's fighters who tasted the horrors of prisons and deny them?

In general, al-Nahda has gone beyond the logic of separating the leadership of the diaspora and the prison activists, and we are a movement of institutions. With regard to the selection of qualified deputies to be in parliament, the choice was based on efficiency, radiation and balance. Menus.