Marzouki: ‘Saied adopted Sisi’s malicious strategy - cause deterioration then be the saviour’

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has indicated that current President Kais Saied has applied the same strategy in Tunisia as Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi against late President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt. Marzouki added that the Ennahda Movement had to show strength in defending the revolution, the same way as the Justice and Development Party in Turkiye.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Marzouki announced: “The issue must be put within its objective framework, the counter-revolution has thwarted by all means – especially its media – the glorious revolution and insulted all its institutions including the Tunisian parliament, which it also contributed to insulting. Hence, there was no great reason for a people deceived by the media to back a disappointing parliament, in addition to the malicious strategy that Saied adopted as a disciple of Al-Sisi, i.e., to cause a deterioration of the situation to the maximum degree before the coup so that the people would see him as a saviour. It is the same method used against Morsi, but as the French proverb says: ‘He who laughs last, laughs best.’”

“They thwarted our revolution, but here is their counter-revolution experiencing disappointment. It is a matter of time before their foolish adventure against the course of history ends; the history that Saied talks about a lot, and he is the last one to understand it,” Marzouki criticised.

In a previous interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi considered that the Tunisians missed an opportunity to overthrow Saied’s “coup” in the same manner as Turkiye.

Marzouki responded: “Sheikh Rachid – and the Ennahda Movement in general – had to show strength in defending the revolution and putting the interests of the revolution and the country before the interests of Ennahda, not to mention succeeding in managing the country’s affairs, as the Turkish Justice and Development Party did. And if that had happened, the Tunisian people at that time would certainly have resisted as the Turkish people did.”

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Settling scores within the Saied family

The Tunisian authorities are currently investigating 25 political and media figures as part of a network affiliated with French intelligence and working to overthrow the rule of President Saied.

However, Marzouki questions the official story and believes that this matter does not go beyond: “Settling scores among the persons close to the usurper’s family (President Saied), and I completely do not care about them. President Emmanuel Macron’s calculations are also wrong, just as former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s calculations when his foreign minister offered the former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to help put down the revolution.”

In a few days, Tunisia will witness the holding of parliamentary elections, which some argue will lead to a parliament “subordinate” to President Saied, while others believe that the next parliament will form the nucleus of a tribal conflict or civil war in the country.

“We are facing all alternatives to the democratic revolution, i.e., dilapidated populism, a funny president, a funny constitution, a funny parliament and a people who lament their luck. However, the consolation is that the people see with their own eyes the reality of the illusion that they believed to be the solution to a faltering democracy and did not grant it time to mature and fix its mistakes,” Marzouki added.

In his comment on the initiative launched to topple Saied by Lotfi Mraihi, secretary-general of the Republican People’s Union, Marzouki explained: “I was the first who demanded ending the coup and for a trial against the usurper. This is the only solution to save Tunisia from the fake saviour, and as fast as all national forces, not just political parties, move to adopt and implement the position, we save the lost time for a people who have lost enough time to confront the great dangers that gather on the horizon in a way more serious than the storm clouds.”

Marzouki sent a message to the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) because of its “contradictory” position on President Saied’s measures, in which he asserted: “Take a position, are you with the ending of the coup, returning to the 2014 Constitution and the resumption of the peaceful democratic revolutionary course? Or do you still have a ray of illusion about this man and his regime that will be overthrown soon?”

Since Saied announced his “exceptional measures” on 25 July, 2021, the UGTT has taken positions that some consider contradictory. At first, it praised Saied’s measures and considered them an end to the “black decade” (the period of Ennahda rule) before it later entered into a “bone-breaking” battle with Saied and warned of the country’s return to dictatorship especially after Saied rejected the national dialogue initiative submitted by the UGTT.

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