Ennahda in Tunisia has chosen democracy over power

The Head of Tunisia’s Ennahda Islamic movement said on Wednesday that his movement has chosen democracy and the Constitution over power in agreeing to step down from government. Shaikh Rashid Ghannouchi told veteran Al-Jazeera presenter Ahmed Mansour that the “Tunisian train is now back on the right track.”

Saying that Egypt is paying the price for its geographic position and an international conspiracy, Shaikh Ghannouchi ruled out the replication of the Egyptian scenario, a military coup, in Tunisia. “The Tunisian army respects democracy,” he insisted.

The party leader was asked about the propaganda war against his movement after it conceded power for the sake of reaching an agreement with the other political parties. “If we had remained in control, we would have sacrificed democracy and kept the door open for disruption and terrorism,” he replied. “We conceded power in order to make room for Tunisia’s Constitution.” He pointed out that Tunisians are proud of their Constitution, which he described as the greatest in their history.

Tunisia has succeeded in getting through a national dialogue and reaching agreement between 26 political parties, he added. “Each party has its own ideology but all of them stick to democracy.”

The senior politician stressed that the youth have to take a leading role in running the country and that the revolution was achieved by their efforts.