Tunisia: Ennahdha party struggles to mobilize against President Kaïs Saïed
Supporters of the Islamist party Ennahdha, mainly, demonstrate against what they call the "coup of Kaïs Saïed".
Sunday February 13, 2022. REUTERS - ZOUBEIR SOUISSI
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Islamist party Ennahdha, supported by a collective called "Citizens against the coup", gathered this Sunday, February 13 near Bourguiba Avenue, in Tunis.
The mobilization turned out to be relatively modest.
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A few hundred people gathered this Sunday morning in a square near Bourguiba Avenue.
Supporters of the Islamist Ennahdha party, essentially, rose up against what they call the "coup d'état of Kais Saïed".
In the crowd of demonstrators, former Minister of Health Abdellatif Mekki.
This former senior executive of the Ennahdha party resigned from the movement.
He nevertheless insisted on being present today.
He who was minister of Kaïs Saïed for months now criticizes him sharply.
“
He is a man without a program and who wants to monopolize all the powers,
he accuses.
But I think that the Tunisian people, by their history, by the achievements of the revolution will resist until an end to this coup d'etat.
»
Economic arguments
In addition to the slogans opposed to his seizure of power, the demonstrators also launched tirades with religious connotations, but also – and this is quite new – economic.
Ennahdha tries to hold Kais Saïed responsible for the economic crisis that the country is going through.
This discourse is widely taken up by the most faithful militants.
“
The prices are skyrocketing.
We are in a very tough economic and social situation.
This is unheard of in Tunisia,
observes Fedia, a 57-year-old mother.
Basic foodstuffs are no longer available.
We are not even sure of receiving our salaries on time.
We are in a very worrying situation and that is why we came to demonstrate against the coup.
»
Still, despite all this argument, Ennahdha is struggling to mobilize.
Mainly for two reasons.
Eleven years after the revolution, a phenomenon of fatigue has taken hold of Tunisians who no longer seem to expect anything from politics.
Moreover, after a decade at the heart of power, the Ennahdha party no longer has the same popularity in public opinion.
Many opponents, particularly on the left, refuse to mingle with supporters of the Islamist party, even if they too are opposed to the takeover of the country by Kaïs Saïed and they share the same fears of a return to a authoritarian power in the country.
In a few days, a delegation of European parliamentarians is due to go to Tunis.
The organizers of today's demonstration are counting on their support to put pressure on the Tunisian president.
► To read also
: Tunisia: more than a hundred members of Ennahdha slam the door of the party
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Tunisia
Ennahda
Kais Saied