Ghannouchi: Ennahda is not at war with Nidaa Tounes

The leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party, Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi has said in a statement to Quds Press that he regrets that some political parties that had previously accepted his party’s support are now resisting it, particularly over the recent budget.

He said that “recent calls to demonstrate in the street, against this year’s budget, is a cynical electoral move par excellence. It comes immediately after the Independent High Authority for Elections has determined the date for elections and the President’s call for the Tunisian people to vote.”

He added: “This means that each party is creating distance from each other. They criticizing each other and promote themselves. Opposition parties which want to take advantage of the difficult social situation just to oppose the government, which explains why they oppose the budget, despite the fact that they themselves have discussed and passed in parliament.”

“This act is wrong for democracy because the laws passed through parliament, in democratic systems, cannot be abolished in the street but rather through a dialogue within institutions. This is not a democratic course.”

Read: Ennahda to ‘support Nidaa Tounes candidate and back him up to win’

When asked whether the election timetable is the main reason behind Nidaa Tounes announcment that it would run in the municipal elections against Ennahda Movement, Ghannouchi said: “We did not fuse with Nidaa Tounes into a single party, we compete respectfully”.

He added: “We have been able to transfer conflicts from a state of violence to a legal and constitutional disagreements. We can compete as political parties.”