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The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined
Islamic democratic There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democr ...
political party in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
. Founded as the Movement of Islamic Tendency in 1981, Ennahda was inspired by the Egyptian
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...
and through the latter, to
Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
's own propelled ideology of " Islamic Government" In the wake of the
2011 Tunisian revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...
and collapse of the government of
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
, the Ennahda Movement Party was formed, and in the
2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly election An election for a constituent assembly in Tunisia was announced on 3 March 2011 and held on 23 October 2011, following the Tunisian revolution. The Assembly had 217 members. It was the first free election held in Tunisia since the country's indep ...
(the first free election in the country's history), won a plurality of 37% of the popular voteTunisia's New Ennahda
Marc Lynch 29 June 2011
and formed a government. Uproar in the traditionally secular country over "Islamization" and assassinations of two secular politicians however, led to the 2013–14 Tunisian political crisis, and the party stepped down following the implementation of a new
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
in January 2014. The party came in second with 27.79% of the vote, in the
2014 Tunisian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on 26 October 2014. Campaigning started on 4 October 2014. They were the first free regular legislative elections since independence in 1956, and the first elections held following the adoption of the ...
, forming a coalition government with the largest secular party, but did not offer or endorse a candidate in the November 2014 presidential election. In 2018, lawyers and politicians accused Ennahda of forming a secret organisation that has infiltrated security forces and the judiciary. They also claimed the party was behind the 2013 assassinations of
Chokri Belaid Chokri Belaïd ( ar, شكري بلعيد, Shukrī Bil‘īd; 26 November 1964 – 6 February 2013), also transliterated as Shokri Belaïd, was a Tunisian politician and lawyer who was an opposition leader with the left-secular Democratic P ...
and
Mohamed Brahmi Mohamed Brahmi ( aeb, محمد براهمي; 15 May 1955 – 25 July 2013) was a Tunisian politician. Brahmi was the founder and former leader of the People's Movement, which, under his leadership, won two seats in the constituent election in ...
, two progressive political leaders of the leftist
Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...
electoral alliance. Ennahda denied the accusations and accused the Popular Front of slandering and distorting Ennahda. It said that the Popular Front was exploiting the two assassination cases and using blood as an excuse to reach the government after failing to do so through democratic means.


Ideology

Robert F. Worth, following 2011 and the "
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
" mainstream media reports, calls it "the mildest and most democratic Islamist party in history" but omits the ideological adoption of the '' velayat-i feqih'' by the movement's founder
Rached Ghannouchi Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intelle ...
, who has remained its president for 38 years without interruption. The expert on Islamic Jurisprudence and Shia Political Thought, Rana Rashid Mudhaffer (University of Baqir al-Olum University) refers to him in an article published in the personal website of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's supreme leader
Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third presiden ...
, making an apologetical commentary of Kheridji-Ghannouchi's publication "Participation in Non-Islamic Government in Liberal Islam", when referring to Islamic Government.
Rached Ghannouchi Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intelle ...
says textually in his book: "The Islamic government is one in which: 1- supreme legislative authority is for the shari'a, which is the revealed law of Islam, which transcends all laws. (...)"


History


Early years

Succeeding a group known as ''Islamic Action'', the party was founded under the name of "Movement of Islamic Tendency" (french: link=no, Mouvement de la Tendance Islamique (MTI), ar, حركة الاتجاه الإسلامي ') in 1981. After the
Tunisian bread riots The Tunisian bread riots (french: émeutes du pain, ar, أحداث الخبز) were a series of violent demonstrations in Tunisia that occurred from December 1983 to January 1984, triggered by a rise in the price of bread due to an IMF-imposed ...
in January 1984 the government suspected the MTI of involvement in the disturbances, and arrested many of its supporters. The MTI leaders had encouraged their followers to join in the riots, but the government produced no proof that they had organized them. The persecution of the MTI enhanced its reputation as an organization committed to helping the people. In 1989, it changed its name to ''Ḥarakat Ennahḍha''. The party has been described as one of many parties/movements in Muslim states "that grew up alongside the
Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
",Wright, Robin, ''Sacred Rage'', Simon and Schuster, (2001), p.194 and it was originally inspired by the Egyptian
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...
. The group supported the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, claiming that "It was not an embassy, but a spy centre". Their influence in 1984 was such that, according to Robin Wright, a British journalist living in Tunisia, stated that the Islamic Tendency was "the single most threatening opposition force in Tunis. One word from the fundamentalists will close down the campus or start a demonstration." The group, or some of its members, were also responsible for the bombing of some tourist hotels in the 1980s.In a Worried Corner of Tunis
Joshua Hammer NYRoB 27 October 2011. Joshua Hammer. (text behind paywall)
Although traditionally shaped by the thinking of Islamist thinkers
Sayyid Qutb Sayyid 'Ibrāhīm Ḥusayn Quṭb ( or ; , ; ar, سيد قطب إبراهيم حسين ''Sayyid Quṭb''; 9 October 1906 – 29 August 1966), known popularly as Sayyid Qutb ( ar, سيد قطب), was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamic ...
and Maududi, the party began to be described as "moderate Islamist" in the 1980s when it advocated democracy and a "Tunisian" form of
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern State (polity), states and Administrative division, regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, Economics, econom ...
recognizing political pluralism and a "dialogue" with the West. Its main leader Rached Ghannouchi, has been criticized for calling for jihad against Israel and "openly threatened U.S. interests, supported Iraq against the United States and campaigned against the Arab-Israeli peace process". Others described him as "widely considered ... a moderate who believes that Islam and democracy are compatible". In the 1989 elections, President Ben Ali banned the party from participating but allowed some members to run as independents. These received between 10% and 17% of the vote nationally according to official figures of the regime, and despite what some observers thought was "widespread fraud". Allegedly surprised by Ennahda's popularity, two years later Ben Ali banned the movement and jailing 25,000 activists. Ennahda activists attacked the ruling party headquarters, killing one person and splashing acid in the faces of several others. Many Ennahda members went into exile. Ennahda's newspaper ''Al-Fajr'' was banned in Tunisia and its editor, Hamadi Jebali, was sentenced to sixteen years imprisonment in 1992 for membership in the un-authorized organisation and for "aggression with the intention of changing the nature of the state". The Arabic language television station ''El Zaytouna'' is believed to be connected with Ennahda. The party was strongly repressed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and almost completely absent from Tunisia from 1992 until the post-revolutionary period. "Tens of thousands" of Islamists were imprisoned or exiled during this time.


Revolution and return to political scene

In the wake of the
Tunisian Revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...
, thousands of people welcomed Rached Ghannouchi on his return to Tunis. The party was described as moving "quickly to carve out a place" in the Tunisian political scene, "taking part in demonstrations and meeting with the prime minister." Earlier Ghannouchi announced that the party had "signed a shared statement of principles with the other Tunisian opposition groups". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported mixed predictions among Tunisians for the party's success, with some believing the party would enjoy support in the inland part of Tunisia, but others saying Tunisia was "too secular" for the Ennahda Party to gain broad support. On 22 January 2011, in an interview with Al Jazeera TV, Rached Ghannouchi confirmed that he is against an Islamic Caliphate, and supports democracy instead, unlike
Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabicحزب التحرير (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Isl ...
, (whom Ghannouchi accuses of exporting a distorted understanding of Islam). The party was legalised on 1 March 2011. A March 2011 opinion poll found the Ennahda Party ranked first among political parties in Tunisia with 29%, followed by the Progressive Democratic Party at 12.3% and the
Ettajdid Movement The Ettajdid Movement (''Movement for Renewal'' ; ar, حركة التجديد, ' ; french: Mouvement Ettajdid), also referred to simply as Ettajdid, was a centre-left secularist political party in Tunisia, active from 1993 to 2012. History and p ...
at 7.1%. It was also found that 61.4% of Tunisians "ignore political parties in the country." This success has caused some secularist to call for the postponing of elections in what many described as "secularism extremism" who were hellbent on denying Ennahda forming the government despite what election observers described as free and fair democratic process. In May 2011 Ennahda's General Secretary
Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
traveled to Washington, D.C. on the invitation of the ''Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy'' He also met U.S. Senators
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
and
Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
. Ennahda's leaders have been described as "highly sensitive to the fears among other West about Islamic party". "We are not an Islamist party, we are an Islamic party, that also gets its bearings by the principles of the Quran." Moreover, he named Turkey a model, regarding the relation of state and religion, and compared the party's
Islamic democratic There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democr ...
ideology to
Christian democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
in Italy and Germany. On a press conference in June 2011 the Ennahda Party presented itself as modern and democratic and introduced a female member who wore a headscarf and a member who didn't, and announced the launching of a youth wing. ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. Hist ...
'' noted that, unlike leftist parties of Tunisia, the moderately Islamic party is not against a market economy. On 31 December 2021, Ennahda claimed in a statement that the party's Vice President and member of the Tunisian Parliament, Noureddine El-Beheiry, had been abducted by “security forces with civilian clothes and taken to an unknown destination.” On 2 January 2022, AFP reported that El-Beheiry had been rushed to intensive care at a hospital in the northern town
Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...
and was in a "critical condition". The speaker of Tunisia's suspended parliament,
Rached Ghannouchi Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intelle ...
wrote to President
Kais Saied Kais Saied ( ar, قَيس سَعيد; born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian politician, jurist, and retired law professor, and currently the 8th President of Tunisia since October 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitution ...
asking him to reveal the whereabouts and condition of El-Beheiry.


2011 Constituent Assembly election

Ahead of the Constituent Assembly election on 23 October 2011, the party conducted extensive electoral campaign, extensively providing potential voters, especially from the lower class, with promotional gifts, meals for the end of Ramadan feasts, and sponsoring events. On 23 October 2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, the first free election in the country's history with a turn out of 51.1% of all eligible voters, the Ennahda Party won 37.04% of the vote (more than the next four biggest vote-getters combined) and 89 of the 217 seats, making it by far the strongest party in the legislature. According to scholar
Noah Feldman Noah R. Feldman (born May 22, 1970) is an American academic and legal scholar. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and chairman of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He is the author of 10 books, host of ...
, rather than being a "puzzling disappointment for the forces of democracy", the Ennahda victory is a natural outcome of inevitable differences between revolution's leaders and the fact that "Tunisians see Islam as a defining feature of their personal and political identities." Rached Ghannouchi, the party's leader was one of the few "voices of resistance to the regime in the last 20 years." Subsequently, it agreed with the two runners-up, the centre-left secular
Congress for the Republic french: La souveraineté du peuple, la dignité du citoyen, la légitimité de l'état. , predecessor = , headquarters = 41 Hedi Chaker,1000 Tunis , newspaper = ''Tunisie Avenir'' , student_wing = , youth_wing ...
(CPR) and
Ettakatol The Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties ( ar, التكتل الديمقراطي من أجل العمل والحريات, ' ; french: link=no, Forum démocratique pour le travail et les libertés), also referred to as Ettakatol or by its Fre ...
, to co-operate in the Assembly and to share the three highest positions in state. Accordingly, Ennahda supported the election of Ettakatol's secretary-general
Mustapha Ben Jafar Mustapha Ben Jafar ( ar, مصطفى بن جعفر) (born 8 December 1940) is a Tunisian politician and medical doctor who was Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia from November 2011 to December 2014. He founded and has led the Democrat ...
as
President of the Constituent Assembly This article lists Presidents of the French Parliament or, as the case may be, of its lower chamber. The National Constituent Assembly was created in 1789 out of the Estates-General. It, and the revolutionary legislative assemblies that follow ...
, and of CPR-leader
Moncef Marzouki Mohamed Moncef Marzouki ( ar, محمد المنصف المرزوقي; ''Muhammad al-Munṣif al-Marzūqī'', born 7 July 1945) is a Tunisian politician who served as the fifth president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014. Through his career he has been ...
as Interim President of the Republic. The latter, in exchange, immediately appointed Ennahda's secretary-general
Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
as
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
.


2011–2014 Troika government

Ennahda was part of the
Troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...
government, along with
Ettakatol The Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties ( ar, التكتل الديمقراطي من أجل العمل والحريات, ' ; french: link=no, Forum démocratique pour le travail et les libertés), also referred to as Ettakatol or by its Fre ...
, and
CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...
. The government was criticized for mediocre economic performance, not stimulating the tourism industry, poor relations with Tunisia's biggest trading partner France. In particular it was criticized for not monitoring and controlling radical Islamists (such as
Ansar al-Sharia Ansar al-Sharia or Ansar al-Shariah is a name used by a collection of radical or militant Islamist groups or militias, in at least eight countries. While they share names and ideology, they lack a unified command structure. *Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen ...
) who were blamed for, among other things, attempting to Islamise the country, the 2012 ransacking and burning of the American embassy. The Troika government faced many challenges domestically and regionally including reviving an economy that had contracted by 1.9% after the Revolution, rising unemployment, managing the influx of over a million Libyan refugees due to the Libyan war, and a wave of social protests.   The Troika government reasserted state control over 80 percent of the mosques that had been taken over by extremists in the chaotic period immediately after the revolution. On 19 February 2013, following the assassination of
Chokri Belaid Chokri Belaïd ( ar, شكري بلعيد, Shukrī Bil‘īd; 26 November 1964 – 6 February 2013), also transliterated as Shokri Belaïd, was a Tunisian politician and lawyer who was an opposition leader with the left-secular Democratic P ...
and ensuing protests, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned from his office, a move which was deemed unprecedented by analysts. The move followed his attempt to form a
technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
government. Ennahda, however, rejected his resignation insisting on a government of politicians and Jebali formally resigned after a meeting with President Moncef Marzouki saying it was in the best interests of the country. He said: "I promised if my initiative did not succeed I would resign as head of the government, and this is what I am doing following my meeting with the president. Today there is a great disappointment among the people and we must regain their trust and this resignation is a first step." Party leader
Rached Ghannouchi Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intelle ...
then suggested a government of politicians and technocrats, while Jebali suggested that if he was tasked with forming a new government it would have to include non-partisan ministers and a variety of political representation that would lead to a new election. Unnamed opposition figures welcomed the resignation. The same day,
Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...
downgraded Tunisia's credit rating. However, the
IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glob ...
said that it was still in talks for a US$1.78 billion loan to the country. On 14 March 2013,
Ali Larayedh Ali Laarayedh ( aeb, علي العريّض, '; born 15 August 1955) is a Tunisian politician who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from 2013 to 2014. Previously he served in the government as the Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2013. Followin ...
was elected as Ennahda's new Secretary General and officially took over as Tunisia's new Prime Minister. Ennahda ceded control of key ministries to technocrats, including foreign affairs, defence and the interior. Ennahda made up 28% of the government, down from 40% in the previous coalition, with independents forming 48% of the new cabinet.  After stabilization of the political situation, the assassination of
Mohamed Brahmi Mohamed Brahmi ( aeb, محمد براهمي; 15 May 1955 – 25 July 2013) was a Tunisian politician. Brahmi was the founder and former leader of the People's Movement, which, under his leadership, won two seats in the constituent election in ...
, member of the Assembly, in July 2013, led to turmoil and political deadlock. Following a National Dialogue and recognizing the continued need for national unity, on 5 October a "road map" was signed, and in January 2014, Ennahda, CPR and Ettakattol stepped down and handed power to a caretaker technocratic government, led by 
Mehdi Jomaa Mehdi Jomaa ( ar, مهدي جمعة; born 21 April 1962) is a Tunisian engineer and was the acting Prime Minister of Tunisia from 29 January 2014 to 6 February 2015. He was chosen on 14 December 2013. Jomaa was Minister of Industry in the Ali ...
, to prepare and organize the second democratic elections. Ghanouchi worked with secularist leader
Beji Caid Essebsi Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; ar, الباجي قائد السبسي, translit=Muhammad al-Bājī Qā’id as-Sibsī, ; 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019) was a Tunisian politician who served as the 6th president of Tunisia from 31 December 2 ...
to forge a compromise agreement, both were heavily criticized by their party rank and file and Ghanouchi received agreement from the Ennahda shura council after threatening to resign. Outside observers called it a "model transition". In January 2014, after the new Tunisian Constitution was adopted by popular vote, Ennahda came second in the October 2014 parliamentary election with 27.79% of the popular vote and formed a coalition government with the larger secularist party Nidaa Tounes. Ennahda did not put forward or endorse any candidate for the November 2014 presidential election. Ghanouchi "hinted broadly" that he personally supported Beji Caid Essebsi, (who won with over 55% of the vote).


2014–present

In the
2014 Tunisian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on 26 October 2014. Campaigning started on 4 October 2014. They were the first free regular legislative elections since independence in 1956, and the first elections held following the adoption of the ...
, Ennahda candidate Jamilia Ksiksi became Tunisia's first black female MP.


Chairmen

During its first ten years of existence, presidency of Ennahda changed very often, while its leading figure
Rached Ghannouchi Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intelle ...
was jailed until 1984 and then again in 1987. After going to exile he remained the party's "intellectual leader". In November 1991 he also took back the formal presidency. Following is a list of all former presidents of the party: * June–July 1981: Abderraouf Bouabi * July–October 1981: Fadhel Beldi * October 1981 – August 1984:
Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
* November 1984 – August 1987: Rached Ghannouchi * August 1987 – April 1988: Salah Karker * April–October 1988: Jamel Aoui * October 1988 – March 1991: Sadok Chourou * March 1991: Mohamed Kaloui * March 1991: Mohamed Akrout * April–June 1991: Mohamed Ben Salem * June–September 1991: Habib Ellouze * October 1991: Noureddine Arbaoui * October –November 1991: Walid Bennani * since November 1991: Rached Ghannouchi


Political positions

In the wake of the compromise worked out by Ghanouchi and
Beji Caid Essebsi Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; ar, الباجي قائد السبسي, translit=Muhammad al-Bājī Qā’id as-Sibsī, ; 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019) was a Tunisian politician who served as the 6th president of Tunisia from 31 December 2 ...
, the party (or at least its leader), has been complimented for it willingness to compromise, protecting Tunisia's democracy and civil peace from Egyptian style violence. However some Islamists see the party as having lost an opportunity to reverse the "social framework" of secularism in the country. The party is generally described as socially centrist with mild support for economic liberalism and has been compared to European Christian democrats. However, liberals accuse its leaders of "
doublespeak Doublespeak is language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs and "servicing the target" for bombing), in which case it is ...
" in this regard. The party wishes to revise the strong secular,
Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and ...
, and
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
principles that predominate among the other parties, and instead allow
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
into public life and be more accommodating to other viewpoints such as closer relations with the West and greater economic freedom. The party currently rejects radical
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern State (polity), states and Administrative division, regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, Economics, econom ...
as a form of governance appropriate for Tunisia, nevertheless Islam remains an important feature of the party; in a debate with a secular opponent Ghannouchi stated, "Why are we put in the same place as a model that is far from our thought, like the Taliban or the Saudi model, while there are other successful Islamic models that are close to us, like the Turkish, the Malaysian, and the Indonesian models; models that combine Islam and modernity?" Political scientist Riadh Sidaoui explains that the Ennahda leader models his approach on the moderate
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern State (polity), states and Administrative division, regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, Economics, econom ...
of
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
; he says: "The leadership was forced into exile in London for a long time ecause of harassment by Tunisian policeand understood about the need to have a balanced outlook... No one wants a repeat of the 1991 Algerian scenario." On 13 November 2011, the party's secretary-general
Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
held a joint rally in
Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...
together with a parliamentary deputy of the Palestinian
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...
party. Jebali referred to the occasion as "a divine moment in a new state, and in, hopefully, a 6th caliphate," and that "the liberation of Tunisia will, God willing, bring about the liberation of Jerusalem." While the tone was said do be sharply in contrast to official statements of the party, Jebali was appointed
Prime Minister of Tunisia The prime minister of Tunisia ( ar, رئيس حكومة تونس, ra’īs ḥukūmat Tūnis) is the head of the executive branch of the government of Tunisia. The prime minister directs the executive branch along with the president and, together ...
a mere month later. When in January 2012, Hamas leadership arrived for another visit to Tunisia, people at the airport were heard shouting "Kill the Jews." Tunisian Jews said Ennahda leadership was slow to condemn the shouting. Ahmed Ibrahim of the Tunisian '' Pole Democratique Moderniste'' political bloc complained to a foreign journalist that Ennahda appears "soft" on television, "but in the mosques, it is completely different. Some of them are calling for
jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with G ...
". The general manager of ''
Al Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a fl ...
'' wrote an editorial expressing the opinion that Ennahda is fundamentally a conservative Islamist party with a moderate leadership. Ennahda has been described as a mixed bag with moderate top layers and a base defined by "a distinctly fundamentalist tilt". Although the party has expressed support for women's rights and equality of civil rights between men and women, the party chose to place only two women at first position out of 33 regional lists for the Tunisian Constituent Assembly. Ghannouchi noted that women have not held any de facto leadership positions under Ben Ali's governments and that it is a reality that only a few women are currently suited to leadership posts. The party is more moderate in urbanized areas such as
Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...
, where secular and socially liberal beliefs predominate. However, Ennahda's compromises and abandoning of
political Islam Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...
has made their core supporters lose faith in them. Perhaps as a result, in 2018, the party declared that it would vote down a bill that would end
gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primar ...
and implement
inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Of ...
equality between men and women, justifying its position because the bill proposed by the Tunisian president
Beji Caid Essebsi Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; ar, الباجي قائد السبسي, translit=Muhammad al-Bājī Qā’id as-Sibsī, ; 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019) was a Tunisian politician who served as the 6th president of Tunisia from 31 December 2 ...
is against the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
and the beliefs of Tunisian people. The position sparked outrage among Tunisian
progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...
and liberals who accused the party of lying about its embrace of democracy, and turning back to its Islamic radical origins. According to a 2020 study, members of parliament in the Ennahda movement who had lived abroad in secular democracies had more liberal voting records than their counterparts who had only lived in Tunisia.


Homosexuality

The party and its leaders have taken very hostile positions against homosexuality. In 2012,
Samir Dilou Samir Dilou is a Tunisian politician. He served as the Minister of human rights, transitional justice and government spokesperson under Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.Ahmed LachhebSamir Dilou, ''Tunisia Live'', 15 August 2011Dan LittauerTunisia reje ...
, then minister of human rights and leader of Ennahda, said the LGBT people have no right to
free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
, and they should respect the
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
and heritage of
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
, he also said that homosexuality is a sexual perversion and a
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
said that it was deeply disappointed by the comments of Dilou, especially that he's responsible for the respect of human rights. The presidential candidate of Ennahda in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
,
Abdelfattah Mourou Abdelfattah Mourou (Arabic: عبد الفتاح مورو) is a Tunisian politician and lawyer. He is a co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serves as its Vice-President. He has been First Deputy Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of ...
, stated that homosexuality is a personal choice and that we must respected individual freedoms, but at the same time he said that he announced his support for the continuation of criminalization of homosexuality in Tunisia, where sodomy is criminalized by 3 years of imprisonment. In 2021, Fathi Layouni, Ennahda mayor of
Le Kram Le Kram is a town and commune in the Tunis Governorate of Tunisia. Situated between La Goulette, the port of Tunis, and Carthage, it opens onto the Gulf of Tunis to the east and the Lake of Tunis to the west. As of 2004 it had a population of 58 ...
, declared to a local radio station that the natural place for homosexuals is either prisons or psychiatric hospitals and that they are forbidden from entering his city, he also demanded the closure of the
Association Shams Association Shams ( ar, جمعية شمس, Jamʿiyyat Shams) is a Tunisian organization for LGBT rights, campaigning for sexual minority rights in Tunisia. The non-governmental, non-profit organisation derives its name from the Sufi mystic Shams Ta ...
, which is a Tunisian organization for LGBT rights.


Election results


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* *Bruce Maddy-Weitzman
"The Islamic Challenge in North Africa,"
''MERIA: Middle East Review of International Affairs'', Vol. 1, No. 2 (July 1997) *Andrew F. March
What Is "Muslim" about Tunisia's "Muslim Democrats"?
May 2021. No. 142. {{Tunisian political parties 1981 establishments in Tunisia Clandestine groups Conservative parties in Africa Formerly banned Islamist parties Formerly banned political parties in Tunisia Islamic democratic political parties Islamic political parties in Tunisia Muslim Brotherhood Political parties established in 1981 Political parties in Tunisia Social conservative parties Sunni Islamic political parties Tunisian Revolution