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Nidaa Tounes loses its moral legitimacy

November 3, 2015 at 3:15 pm

We learned in school that politics is the management of people’s affairs, and that a politician’s value increases amongst their citizens when they are closer to the people or of more service to them. In order for this to be achieved, the goals, programmes and actions of politicians seeking to rule must be subject to a number of moral principles, regardless of their ideologies. A politician that does not adhere to a strong moral reference can turn into a thug who does not hesitate to deal with his rivals or citizens who disagree with him in terms of ideas and interests by resorting to deception, lying, or violence. Therefore, many believe that politics is ethics, thus giving it a special quality and prestige, as it is associated with the conditions of leadership, such as possessing the qualities of a good role model.

In order to distinguish this type of politician from the others who have no code of conduct, some have invented the term “politically savvy” to describe those who believe politics is the ability to deceive and manipulate, and who rely on the argument that the ends justified the means. This is because the ultimate goal of this group of politicians is to reach power in the fastest and easiest way, regardless of principles and disregarding the credibility of the promises and pledges they made to their voters during the stage of collective deception.

I do not want to generalise, as generalisation is the wrong approach when trying to understand phenomena. However, in light of what is currently occurring, we can say for sure that what is happening within the Nidaa Tounes party no longer falls within the understood competition in order to ensure victory in the position war that began since the announcement of the results of the parliamentary elections.

This conflict has begun heading towards an open battle against all possibilities and by every means, both legitimate and illegitimate. What is important in the battle is to gain sole authority and to expel the opponents from this “heaven”. The violent incident that occurred at one of Hammamet’s hotels, during which cold arms were used, is merely a rehearsal and sneak preview into what could happen in the future.

What is happening these days has nothing to do with the revolution, ideology, or even politics. It does not matter who is behind this; what matters is that Tunisia has become threatened by the party that the Tunisians voted for to lead them to safety. Instead, this party put everyone in the face of a true crisis and drama.

The open battle between the members of this party, which is on the verge of turning into some sort of civil war, only concerns those who waged it, as the Tunisians will not gain anything from it other than more confusion, chaos, a weak state and fear of the unknown.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi must intervene decisively in order to deter the members of the party that would not have been founded and would not have won previous elections if it weren’t for him. The president’s silence has become both annoying and suspicious in the eyes of many. He is now required to clearly intervene in order to rescue the country from a political disaster, and in order to protect himself from the doubts of those who are accusing him of supporting his son, who leads one of the two sides of the conflict, and who is working on overthrowing the party’s current leadership.

Whatever the consequences and results of this position war, in which more dramatic scenes are likely, it is certain that the Nidaa Tounes party lost an important part of its political value and its credibility amongst the majority of Tunisians, including the majority of the elites. What occurred at the Executive Committee meeting in Hammamet suggests that the country may find itself in a dilemma that may push it to think about organising premature elections, especially in the event of the party’s parliamentary bloc’s division. This will inevitably lead to its collapse and fragmentation.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 3 November 2015.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.