Tag: Tunisia
Tunisia: The Republic’s Mufti and Politics
Tunisia’s Grand Mufti Othmane Battikh, appointed by President Beji Caid Essebsi last summer, caused a political row, in late September, when he considered some labour sit-ins and protests as haram or religiously illicit because they harm the country’s fragile economy....
Tunisia: Hizb ut-Tahrir Prevented from Holding its Annual Congress
Tunisian authorities prevented Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir from holding its annual congress meeting in Tunis, on 4 June. Hedi Majdoub, the interior minister, justified the decision on security grounds and that the Tahrir Party represented a threat to stability and...
Ennahdha’s 10th Congress Promise
“We are leaving political Islam and entering democratic Islam. We are Muslim democrats who no longer claim to represent political Islam,” announced Rached Ghannouchi to Le Monde ahead of the party’s 10th congress, held on 20-22 May, at Hamamet. The...
Tunisia: How Extreme Secularism Feeds Religious Extremism
A proposal by the Tunisian minster of religious affairs to organise a Quran teaching course for pupils during the summer holidays triggered a new round of tensions and media polarisation among Tunisians. Secularists took to media outlets denouncing another attempt,...
Tunisia: Beji Caid Essebsi Halts Constitutional Amendment, for Now
Soufian Toubal, a member of the National Assembly in the Nidaa Tounes bloc announced that his party was in the consultations with experts within the legal committee of the assembly to amend laws 32 and 33, in order to grant...
How to Reform Tunisia’s Security Sector
The renewal of the state of emergency in Tunisia last week coupled with yet another pay raise for security forces, following their protests last January, have refocussed discussion about the reform of the security sector as Tunisia navigates its way...
Deep Society and Deep State: The Limits of the Political Consensus in Tunisia
The wave of protests that swept across Tunisia’s north west, centre and southern towns and villages over the past ten days betrays the limits of the political elite consensus between Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda. In a scenario reminiscent of Bouazizi’s...
Ennahdha and the Islamist-Secularist Debate in Tunisia
Ennahdha Movement is not immune to the Islamist-secular debate, having delayed holding its 10th congress until spring 2016. There are intense debates within Ennahdha, in light of its short-lived time in power. This year’s conference is coming to be considered...