Tunisia president excludes parties from national dialogue, sets conditions for participation

Tunisian President Kais Saied is preparing to launch a national dialogue, which he says will end the system that came after the fall of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

According to information obtained by Arabic Post from private sources, the Saied is placing limits on the talks and conditions on those who wish to participate. In particular he has stipulated that the Ennahda movement cannot take part in the discussions.

“The national dialogue in Tunisia will not be held with those who tried to overthrow the state, who looted the state’s resources, and those who practice violence and divide the people,” Saied has said.

Hassan Al-Ayadi, a political analyst and specialist in the Tunisian political affairs, said: “The Ennahda movement is not interested in the national dialogue in Tunisia. It is only concerned with placing internal and external pressure so the country heads towards legislative elections.”

Al-Ayadi added: “The battle today is between Saied with his supporters on the one hand, and Ennahda and those who stand with it on the other.”

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“Contrary to what was announced,” he explained, “Ennahda is not concerned with dissolving the parliament, and even if it accepts to remove the post-2011 system, the price for that must be a guaranteed place in the new system.”

Meanwhile, the Ennahda movement announced that it would organize a protest in the capital tomorrow with the participation of a number of forces opposing Saied, to express its rejection of the dissolution of parliament and the prosecution of members of parliament who participated in an online session.

Tunisian political analyst Omar Al-Tays said that by organising the rally, Ennahda “to show some people stand with the movement, and that Ennahda is ultimately a part of the people. So, the exclusion of the movement from any dialogue is a wrong decision.”

Al-Ayadi added: “Kais Saied identified the content of the dialogue, its structure, conditions and the parties that will participate in it, as well as its outputs, which did not differ from the results of the electronic consultation.”

The political analyst concluded that Saied will organise a dialogue “for political liquidation, not a comprehensive national dialogue, as he says.”