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‘Ben Ali's party is a threat to Tunisia; time to ban it,’ says ex-president Marzouki

March 12, 2021 at 2:38 pm

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki in Tunisia, on 7 September 2019 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has called for the Free Destourian Party (FDP) to be banned. He insisted that the party of the late dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali poses a threat to Tunisia.

“All democratic countries have a law prohibiting extremist, anti-democratic parties,” Marzouki wrote on Facebook. “The last example is France, which decided to dissolve a party called Generation Identity… The so called Free Destourian Party is an anti-democratic party that constantly seeks to hinder the work of Parliament through hate and eradication speech to sow the seeds of discord among the people and through its rebellion against the law, as has happened recently.”

Hence, he continued, “This party must be banned because it represents today the greatest threat to Tunisia and its emerging democracy. Look at the picture; it is not of the martyrs of our past, but for the martyrs of our future, God forbid, if we flout the menace of this fascist party. Remember the high price that the German, Italian and Spanish people had to pay in the 20th century when they did not pay attention to the snake in their bed.”

Supporters of the FDP, which includes a number of symbols of the Ben Ali regime, stormed the branch of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IAMS) in the Tunisian capital recently. This prompted a wave of condemnation in the country, after the security forces intervened to break up a clash between the FDP members and personalities affiliated with Al-Karama Coalition who came to protect the building. This happened at a time when Tunisian politicians had warned against attempts by foreign parties to create chaos in the country.

READ: Ben Ali assets in Switzerland transferred to Tunisia central bank