Tunisia: Angry messages from Ennahda leaders to Ghannouchi

Leaders of Ennahda movement have accused the party’s executive office and its president, Rached Ghannouchi, of bias in favour of his allies and “lack of respect for the will of senior voters,” following the results of the internal elections.

Ennahda’s executive office has made changes to the preliminary lists of candidates for the legislative elections, in a move considered by many as a coup against the rules and will of senior voters, according to Al Jazeera.Net.

Both Abdel Latif Al-Makki and Abdel-Hamid Al-Jellassi refused to comply with the decisions of the executive office, following their removal from the lists of Grand Tunis and appointment in the Kef and Nabeul governorates.

A leaked letter from Al-Makki revealed the intensity of the conflict within Ennahda movement. The letter described a “sense of injustice” that he, the women leaders, and the party’s youth are experiencing in light of the decisions of the executive office.

Read: Ghannouchi, Ennahda’s possible candidate for Tunisian legislative elections

In the same letter, Al-Makki apologised for not accepting the chairmanship of the legislative list of Kef governorate. It is worthy of mentioning that Al-Makki achieved a landslide victory in the Tunis 1 constituency during the primary elections. Thus, he expressed his surprise over the transfer decision, while addressing harsh words of blame to Ghannouchi.

Al-Makki described the decision of the leader of the movement to run for legislative elections on the head of the list of Tunis 1 as improvisational, calling on him to respect voters at the level of previously fixed arrangement.

He concluded: “I call on some leaders to assist their brothers by keeping silent if they cannot stand in the face of a wrong deed. I call the president of Ennahda movement to be self-righteous while managing our movement, and dealing with our youth, women, and brothers.”

Mohamed Ben Salem also rejected the changes made by the executive office regarding the names of candidates for legislative elections, especially the heads of lists, reported Al Jazeera.Net.

According to the results of the internal elections of the movement, Ben Salem was previously appointed as president of the Zaghouan list. However, he was excluded and relocated in third place. Thus, Ben Salem described the decision as the systematic exclusion of the senior voters’ choices and the members of the Shura Council in the governorates.