Amal Hilali - Tunisia
Competition among Tunisian presidential candidates is raging in conjunction with the approaching mid-month election due date, while candidates have begun to review their programs on the management of domestic and international affairs once they reach the presidency.
Aside from issues of a developmental and economic dimension, the election promises of candidates sparked controversy among the political and popular circles in view of the sensitivity of some of them and their relationship to the powers of the President, in terms of controlling the foreign policy of the State and protecting its national security.
A group of candidates shared several points that have long represented controversial issues and divided the Tunisian street, such as the restoration of relations with the Syrian regime and the opening of a channel for dialogue with the retired Libyan General Khalifa Hifter, as well as the issue of political Islam and equality in inheritance.
Candidate Abdul Karim al-Zubaidi vowed to re-establish relations with the Syrian regime and open an embassy in Damascus after years of closure by the Troika government and former president Moncef Marzouki during Tunisia's hosting of the Friends of Syria conference in 2012.
In an interview with Reuters, al-Zubaidi justified his decision "to serve the interests of Tunisian families there and to isolate the Syrian people and lift security coordination."
In turn, candidate Mohsen Marzouk pledged to restore diplomatic relations with the Assad regime, and the same with Hifter, stressing during his presence on a television program that he refuses to engage Tunisia in the policy of the interlocutor.
He had previously met with the Secretary-General of the Movement of Tunis project with a group of leaders of his party Hifter in the city of Benghazi, and the visit aroused the ire of Tunisians.
Speaking about the priorities of his electoral platform, Yahya Tunis, the candidate of the "Long live Tunisia" movement, promised to open all channels of dialogue with the Libyan parties in the east and west, calling for the need to break what he called the "negative neutrality" of Tunisian diplomacy.
On the other hand, some candidates promised to eradicate political Islam once they came to power and to fight all forms, where the candidate of the "alternative" Mehdi Jomaa that there is no place for political Islam in Tunisia, denying any possible alliance with Ennahdha present and future.
In turn, the head of the Free Constitutional Party, Abeer Moussa, who is an extension of the remnants of the ousted president Ben Ali and constantly ignored its hostility to the revolution, vowed to fight the political Islam represented by the Ennahda movement, justifying it by its opposition to democracy.
It stressed that it will put an end to the movement's president Rashid Ghannouchi and will dissolve Ennahdha and prosecute its leaders on terrorism-related charges as soon as she wins the presidency.
On the other hand, a member of the Shura Council, Ennahdha Zubair Al-Shahoudi, said that his party was forced into the election programs of some presidential candidates through the door of "political adolescence", stressing in his talk to Al Jazeera Net that attempts to revive ideological conflicts are no longer attracting Tunisians.
He stressed that the priorities of the President of the Republic is to ensure the unity of Tunisians and not drag them into side battles that will deepen the differences and divisions within society and threaten the experience of democratic transition.
He called on presidential candidates to take into account the social and economic conditions in the country, and work through their electoral programs to develop legislative programs and initiatives that will emerge from Tunisia's crises, not to sink them in issues resolved by the people and parliament.
Equality by inheritance
On the other hand, the issue of equality in inheritance represented the meeting point of many presidential candidates who pledged to complete what was initiated by the late President Beji Caid Essebsi, and work to pass the legislative initiative in this regard, which remained locked in the corridors of Parliament.
They include Mohamed Abbou, Youssef Chahed, Obeid Braiki, Hamma Hammami, Mehdi Jomaa, Abdelkrim Zoubidi, Mohsen Marzouk and Salma Loumi.
Sarcasm and criticism
The election promises of the presidential candidates were a matter of ridicule and occasional criticism, and criticism and attack at times, among activists of social media platforms, describing them as false and unenforceable promises.
"Who believes the election promises of those who promised and succeeded those who exercised power? The wise person does not bite twice," activist Turki Bouzazi asked in a post.
Commenting on the promises of some candidates to restore relations with the Syrian regime without equitable Chilean "Bashar, Bashar .. The restoration of relations with your ugly sectarian regime has become a national Tunisian project to elect the president .. Is there more than this licenses and humiliation."
For his part, the media Ayman Harbawi sarcastically criticized the selection of some Tunisians for presidential candidates on the basis of hostility to the "Brotherhood of Tunisia" and their position rejecting equality in inheritance, rather than programs and visions.
Political activist Tarek El Kahlaoui considered that the talk of candidate Youssef Chahed, who still retains his position as prime minister, about opening a line with Hifter would create a crisis with the government of Tripoli and neighboring cities of Tunisia.
It is noteworthy that 26 candidates, as announced by the Electoral Commission are preparing early next month to start their campaigns officially, amid calls for the media to remain neutral and ensure equal opportunities for candidates without bias to a candidate at the expense of another.