Le Monde: Tunisia faces political fragmentation

Once again, the political events taking place in Tunisia are noteworthy, especially as the country's democratic experience is unique in the Arab and Muslim world.It will empower Tunisians to elect their president directly for the second time since 2011, but this does not hide the fragmentation of the political scene. French newspaper Le Monde.

On Monday, the campaign started to continue until September 13, in which 26 candidates are competing for the post, but the holding of these elections, which itself affirms the country's involvement in a democratic process, occurs in a confusing atmosphere, amid a state of uncertainty and anxiety, According to the newspaper.

According to Tunisian political science professor Hatem Mourad, "this electoral station is not without the dangers of being unable to govern."

Bet and shifts
According to French newspaper correspondent Frédéric Poppin, the main issue is the stabilization of the political landscape, which is in a state of restructuring, which raises questions about whether the September 15 presidential elections, which will be followed by legislative elections on October 6, The next one will contribute to further fragmentation of the partisan scene or reduce fragmentation.

Among the presidential candidates, the results of the polls and public opinion polls highlight "populist" or "anti-regime" figures against the backdrop of distrust of the two main parties, Nidaa Tounes (Modernist) and Ennahda (Islamic).

The author explained the transformation of the Tunisian scene by the impact of the social aspect, especially the issue of poverty, which contributed to the rise of the owner of the channel "Nessma" and the controversial figure Nabil Karoui, who managed to win the sympathy of the people through charitable activities in poor villages and inland.

Frédéric Poppin pointed out that the villager suspected in the cases of "money laundering" and "tax evasion", often described as "Berlusconi Tunisia", can not oversee his own campaign because of his arrest on 23 August last, but he is still officially a competitor According to the Independent High Electoral Commission.

According to his supporters, his arrest is a "political maneuver" due to what they called the practices of the old regime, a reference to the policies of the ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali towards his opponents, but this detention has strengthened his popularity according to the results of sounding opinions.

Names and compete
In this presidential election scene, other names emerge, including academic Qais Said, who adopts a conservative speech, or lawyer Abeer Moussa, who flirt with voters supporting the ousted president Ben Ali and his system.

The emergence of these names and their presence in the arena of competition to reach power, reflect, according to the newspaper, the search for alternatives to the faces or parties that dominated the political scene for eight years.

"When we see descendants of authoritarian rule and a state of fragmentation in the political landscape, we cannot talk about the consolidation of democracy in Tunisia," says political science professor Hamadi Rdissi.

The issue of political fragmentation is likely to reopen a debate that was thought to be over, regarding raising the electoral threshold (the percentage of votes for a seat in parliament). .

Presidential candidate and outgoing defense minister Abdul Karim al-Zubaidi has emerged as one of the most prominent advocates of this constitutional reform to end the fragmentation of partisanship. He also did not hide his desire to rebalance the authorities in favor of the presidency against the prime minister.

The writer says that the death of President Beji Kaid Essebsi before the end of his presidency overturned the election dates, which made the presidential elections held before the legislative, which led Prime Minister Youssef Chahed to run in the presidency, although he did not want at the beginning, according to the writer.

Ennahdha, whose deputies were very important in drafting the 2014 constitution, also succumbed to the status quo and put forward a presidential candidate represented by lawyer Abdelfattah Moro.

Accurate appointment
This important political date is accurate for Ennahdha regarding its relationship with the religious authority, and although the movement announced in 2016 during its tenth conference the separation of the da'wah and the political side, Moro proceeds with the proposal that the party be classified only as a conservative, saying that "the problems in Tunisia Political, economic, social and not religious. "

Amid this fragmented landscape, Ennahda and its ruling coalition partner Taya Tounes (dissident from the late President Nidaa Tounes), led by the witness, find themselves confronted with emerging populism, particularly that of Nabil Karoui.

The arrest of Karoui seems not enough to neutralize him from the presidential race, leaving the country facing a trap, according to political analyst Salaheddine Jourchi. "Leaving Karoui free to campaign is dangerous and his exclusion is no less dangerous."

According to the writer, under these circumstances, part of the "modernist" voters, who reject Ennahdha and adventurer Nabil Karoui, are interested in Zubeidi, who has held the post of defense minister three times since 2011, considering that it can embody a certain continuation of the state, while all possibilities remain open and non- Confirmed in this presidential race.