Nidaa Tounes founder resigns

The founder of Tunisia’s Nidaa Tounes political party, Mohsen Marzouk, announced his resignation as its secretary general on Sunday. He added that he might form a new party.

In making his statement, Marzouk announced the formation of a national committee for monitoring and organising a framework meeting on 9 January. There will be a popular national meeting a day later to announce the committee’s findings in order to restore the spirit upon which the Nidaa Tounes movement was founded.

The Tunisian radio station Shems FM said that a number of leaders backed Marzouk’s decision, and that he has been assigned to coordinate the new path.

His statement reflects his dissatisfaction with the road map presented by the 13-member committee that was set up by President Beji Caid Essebsi to reconcile the two wings of Nidaa Tounes. The committee announced that a primary reconciliation conference will be held on 10 January and an electoral conference on 31 June, in an effort to reconcile their demands.

According to Marzouk in a meeting last Friday, Nidaa Tounes is experiencing “clinical death”. He added that the Islamist Ennahda Party is “one of the main beneficiaries of the internal crisis of the ruling party.”

Observers fear that the split between the two wings of Nidaa Tounes could have repercussions that will affect the fragile political stability being witnesses in the country.