Marzouki calls Egyptian businessman Sawiris an 'anti-revolutionary'

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has accused the Egyptian businessman and founder of the Free Egyptians Party, Naguib Sawiris, of supporting the anti-revolutionary current in the Arab countries, Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the news agency, the head of Tunisia’s secular Nidaa Tounes Party, Beji Caid Al-Sebsi, had invited Sawiris to visit the country.

In a conference attended by around 3,000 supporters, Marzouki opened his speech by commenting on Sawiris’s visit. “It had its goals and sends a message,” he told the audience. “The principal of my electoral campaign told me that an Egyptian television station loyal to Sawiris referred to Al-Sebsi as the temporary president of Tunis.”

He added: “Some parties want to ignore the Tunisian voter and the Tunisian people,” also noting that his party is not against individuals, but against the ideology of one party and one man.

Sending a message to Al-Sebsi, he said: “Tunisians are independent” and called on his supporters to be the “makers of history and not its victims” on Sunday – the day of the presidential elections.

Previously, Sawiris tweeted about his visit that: “It aimed at congratulating the [Nidaa Tounes Party] for its victory in the parliamentarian elections and to reinforce bilateral relations.”

Spokesperson of the Free Egyptians Party Shehab Wajeeh said that Sawiris’s visit to Tunisia was part of an effort to set up an alliance between the “liberal” Arab parties in order to confront the religious current, which is aimed at changing the identity of these countries.

Wajeeh called Marzouki’s criticism of the visit “bankrupt”.