The Wafa Movement ( ar, حركة وفاء), sometimes referred to as the Independent Democratic Congress, is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. The party was founded in 2012 by a number of constituents who broke away from the

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). Led by the short-time CPR secretary-general

Abderraouf Ayadi Abderraouf Ayadi ( aeb, عبد الرؤوف العيادي; born 12 February 1950 in Manouba, Tunisia) is a Tunisian human rights activist, politician and lawyer. After the Tunisian Revolution in 2011, he was elected as a member of the Constitu ...

, the party however remained loosely allied with the governing

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 ...

coalition of

Ennahda 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 political party in Tunisia. Fou ...

, CPR and Ettakatol. Generally seen as a secular, left-leaning party, the Wafa Movement reached out to Islamists on the grounds of seeking unity among revolutionary forces. In the 2014 elections, the party lost its parliamentary representation.

History

Formation

On 19 April 2012, CPR secretary-general Abderraouf Ayadi had been dismissed from his official functions following controversies over Ayadis approval of Samir Geageas right-wing Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia responsible for the

Sabra and Shatila massacre The Sabra and Shatila massacre (also known as the Sabra and Chatila massacre) was the killing of between 460 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, by the militia of the Lebanese Forces, a Maronite Christian Lebanese ...

of hundreds of Palestinian refugees in 1982. A few days later, on 9 May 2012, Ayadi and a group of fellow constituents announced that they would leave the CPR to form a new party under the name of "Wafa", meaning "faithful", used here in the sense of "faithful to the revolution". On July 25, the party was officially founded, "with the sole objective of realizing the revolution’s objectives: work, liberty and national dignity."

Constituent Assembly

In November 2012, the party announced it would sue

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for the 1988 assassination of Fatah-official

Abu Jihad Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir Standardized Arabic transliteration: '' / / '' ( ar, خليل إبراهيم الوزير, also known by his '' kunya'' Abu JihadStandardized Arabic transliteration: ' —"Jihad's Father"; 10 October 1935 – 16 April 1 ...

Sayeret Matkal General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal ( he, סיירת מטכ״ל) is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is the prime special ...

Colonel Nahum Lev in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. Wafa attorney Fadira Najjar considered the assassination a war crime under international law and claimed that deposed Tunisian president

Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...

as well as security officials colluded with Israel. In January 2013, secretary-general Ayadi supported the inscription of legal jihad into the

Constitution of Tunisia The Constitution of Tunisia is the supreme law of the Tunisian Republic. The constitution is the framework for the organization of the Tunisian government and for the relationship of the federal government with the governorates, citizens, an ...

. Allegedly he also advocated the integration of jihadist fighters into the

Tunisian Army The Tunisian Land Army ( ar, جيش البر التونسي, Jaîsh el-Barr et'Tunsi, french: Armée de terre tunisienne) is the ground component of the Tunisian Armed Forces . The Land Forces Command is located in Bizerte. The TAF itself was cr ...

, which however was immediately demented by Wafa party officials. On 20 November 2013, Wafa president

proposed that a dialogue be started with militant Islamist group

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 ...

2014 elections

Having started with 12 parliamentarians in 2012, the Wafa Movement went into the 2014 parliamentary election with 10 seats, all of which it lost receiving a mere 0.70% of the electoral vote. For the following

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

, Wafa had already nominated its secretary-general Ayadi who however withdrew his candidacy after the electoral results were published calling the election a "soft coup" with the comeback of old regime figures. Wafa harshly criticized the candidacy of Beji Caid Essebsi, stating that he would have no place in a revolution of the youth against the former regime. The party later supported the electoral campaign of interim president

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 ...

References

{{Tunisian political parties 2012 establishments in Tunisia Political parties established in 2012 Political parties in Tunisia Secularism in Tunisia