Evasion of outlawed Muslim Brotherhood stirs up a storm in Tunisia

In Tunisia, the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities are linked to those of the political party Ennahda. The Islamic Tendency Movement (ITM) was founded in 1981 by Islamist preacher Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. The party took influence from the Muslim Brotherhood and its philosophy. In 1989, ITM changed its name to Ennahda (which means “Awakening” or “Renaissance”).

Ennahda’s political strength peaked in the months following the Tunisian revolution, when the party gained a plurality of votes in the October 2011 elections.

Despite assertions that Ghannouchi’s party has moved away from Islamism and toward a more pluralistic agenda, Ghannouchi has previously had links to Islamist and violent extremist organizations in Tunisia and elsewhere. Leaders of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al-Sharia organization in Tunisia (AST), for example, attended meetings in Ghannou, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

 After Rached Ghannouchi changed his position on President Kais Saied, announcing the movement’s support for the Tunisian president, the discoloration of the terrorist Brotherhood produced a state of amazement and a tremendous “storm” in Tunisia.

“We will support President Kais Saied, and work to make him a success, including a willingness to preserve the country’s stability and the continuation of democracy,” Ghannouchi said in a surprising reaction to the Tunisian president’s great victory in removing the repressive group, according to media statements. 

Adding to it, “We’re waiting for a map,” The only way out is via discussion under the president’s supervision.”