Reconciliation ‘a strategic option’ for Ennahda, says Bhiri

Noureddine Bhiri, leader of Ennahdha’s parliamentary bloc in Tunisia, stated that the movement’s ratification of the Administrative Reconciliation Act regarding government employees indicated that complete reconciliation is a “strategic option” for the movement.

In an interview with Anadolu news agency, Bhiri rejected the notion that Ennahda’s consensus with Nidaa Tounes stems from its fear of the opposition or of the repercussions of a regional and international reality that is opposed to the Islamic movement.

He also denied the existence of a “popular rejection” of the Administrative Reconciliation Act.

On 13 September the Tunisian parliament ratified a draft law regarding administrative reconciliation with about 1,500 government officials suspected of “financial corruption” and “abusing public funds”.

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“If a million and a half Tunisians were to protest against this law after its ratification, we would say that there is a popular rejection of this law but the public depicted a true picture of what happened. Tunisians ignored the calls to protest against the law, despite the many calls in the media,” he said.

“We are a movement that has chosen to defend the comprehensive reconciliation, and we were the first to call for comprehensive reconciliation to solve the files of the past, and we have chosen transitional justice to deal with the problems of the past. We also chosen transitional justice to address the problems of the past,” he said.

He added, “We could have adopted other options like others have done, but we were convinced that the country’s situation couldn’t bear deepening the wounds of the past or inciting the people and pushing them to a civil war.”

Bhiri warned against the danger of “aborting” the Tunisian revolution, like what’s happened in other countries, noting, “despite the economic, social, and political difficulties faced by the Tunisian experience, it is progressing, albeit slowly, towards achieving its goals and towards completing its democratic structure”.