Tunisia: Ennahda leader leaves party amid disagreements over its policies

Mohamed Al-Qoumani, a prominent leader in Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement, has announced his resignation from the party due to what he described as differences in perspectives with the party leadership.

In a Facebook post titled “A Historic Turning Point,” he wrote: “I extend my greetings to all those I shared intellectual, legal, political, or other paths with, and I value their acquaintance. I am not regretful of what my life journey has brought me, but I firmly believe in the necessity of self-criticism, renewal and rejuvenation. I embrace a new and different phase on multiple levels. We ask God for satisfaction and success in all that brings goodness to our present and future.”

He told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the post referred to his resignation from the Ennahda Party, expressing his divergence from the prevailing political course within the leadership.

He added that the movement’s latest statements “emphasised the stagnation of its activities during the recent period and the impossibility of holding its eleventh congress, which has been postponed until an unknown date. Thus, the elements of the resignation decision have come together. In addition, there are major shifts in the national political scene that indicate a temporary demise of politics and necessitate deep revisions at all levels.”

On the occasion of its 42nd anniversary, Ennahda announced in a statement that it was impossible for it to hold its eleventh congress due to “oppressive retaliatory measures taken by the authorities against the party’s leader Rashid Ghannouchi, some of its leaders, and its headquarters, which hinder the party’s work and institutions and hamper its role as a nationalist party contributing to the rationalisation of political work in Tunisia.”

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