The future is for Islamists

The leader of Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party, Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, has said he will not run for the party's presidency at its general conference next July. "The future will see the Islamists prevail in the Arab region, as they posed the main opposition against tyrannical regimes," said Ghannouchi. The revolutionary leader said he believed the Syrian revolution would ultimately be victorious, while he insisted the Palestinian cause was "the Islamic nation's main cause". He also reiterated that Tunisia did not seek to nominate ties with Israel. Ghannouchi, along with fellow leaders prime minister Hamadi Jebali and Moncef Marzouki (now president of Tunisia) were pivotal in leading the nation after popular protests ousted former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. His Islamist Ennahda party won a majority in the country's first democratic elections, and is tasked with re-igniting the economy, solving unemployment, and helping draft the new constitution among other things. The Ennahda leader spoke about several national and regional issues in an interview with Arabstoday: AT: First, how do you assess the conditions in Tunisia a year after the revolution? Do you believe that what happened was a real revolution? And if so, is this revolution considered a victory for democracy, Islam, or the Islamists? RG: There is a revolution that happened and is still ongoing in this country. Tunisia didn't witness any change in the last 50 years, and now change has taken place...but we need some time to achieve building a new state. It took more than a hundred years for the French revolution to settle, so the time factor must be respected, as any unrest the country is going through is a normal side-effect of the change, but the general conditions will settle by time. We don't have a previous experience with democracy, so it is still not very easy to create harmony between freedom and order. The former regime imposed order by security suppression, but now this regime had gone and the people try to enjoy freedom they have not witnessed since the French occupation. The challenge now is how to ensure order as well as the people's freedom, as we can't achieve development without order. Earlier, order prevailed at the expense of freedom, while now we are witnessing the opposite, so our freedom is accompanied by chaos. This chaos is represented in obstructing roads, preventing workers from reaching their workplace and attacking or breaking into government offices and police stations. I assert this is normal as revolutions always break the state's prestige. I hope this situation will not last for long, especially as we can see some positive signs on the other hand, as the state's administrative body remained relatively stable, the general services were not considerably affected, and wages are paid on regular basis. So we can say that the old regime has fallen, while the state has not collapsed. AT: How do you explain the recent rise of Islamists in the Arab region? RG: The rise of Islamists shouldn't be a surprise, as they were posing as the main opposition against tyrannical regimes that prevailed in the Arab region for the last two decades. Islamists reaching power is the real proof that the whole region is going through a real revolution, as Islamist movements could not be recognised - leave alone take power - without witnessing a revolution in the Arab region, that can change the power balance through actual popular support. AT: You said earlier that retaining the first subject of the Tunisian constitution (which states Islam is the state's religion) is central to Ennahda and its vision, but there are some who say your political and economic approach is secular although you adopt Islamist concepts? RG: Keeping the constitution's first subject was a triumph for our movement, because Tunisia's Islamic and Arab identity was subject to continual conflict that lasted for decades. Even after the revolution, there were voices that called for stating Islam as the majority's religion instead of the state religion, but now we have reached a national consensus on the issue. As for our political and economic approach being secular, this is a claim with no evidence. AT: How is the contradiction between the party's members comments about implementing Sharia (Islamic law) in Tunisia explained? Is it an indication of an internal split? RG: We are used to diversity and a variety of views in Ennahda; regarding our position towards implementing Sharia, some of the party's members had tried to express their individual thoughts, but when this issue was reviewed by the party it was decided that retaining the first subject of the constitution was enough. AT: It is said that the party's position towards implementing Sharia created tension between the party's members and its leadership...you were even accused of exploiting religion only to take over power? RG: There is no truth to these claims. I'm not aware about any tension within the party. When some of the party's members expressed their thoughts on implementing Sharia, it may have encouraged some of the party's youth to adopt the same thoughts. But when the party took its official decision, all members declared their commitment to it, and this is a respectful and appreciated position from them. As for Ennahda being accused of exploiting religion, I think these kind of accusations can't be directed at a movement that sacrificed dozens of martyrs and thousands of detainees, and was suppressed for decades without giving up on people's rights for freedom and democracy. If anybody has followed our electoral campaign, it's easy to see that we never promised to implement Sharia, so we have to show commitment to what we said, and what we promised the people before coming into power. We believe that the first subject of the constitution is enough, and we felt that stating Sharia as the main source for legislation could cause a split in Tunisian society. AT: You said before that the Sharia lacks a clear definition. As an Islamist movement, aren't you supposed to offer this definition? RG: Yes, we are supposed to do so, but establishing this definition needs a lot of time and work, so we can make Sharia a point of consensus by Tunisians as Islam is now. AT: The recent appointment of governors pushed some observers to accuse you of adopting a hegemonic policy similar to that of the former regime? RG: We have no intentions of pursuing hegemony. The fact is there are some people who don't accept any of Ennahda figures occuping any position. Ennahda has gained the people's confidence through elections, so it is normal for its members to be represented in some of the state's positions. AT: How do you assess the relationship between your party and the Salafist movement, especially on the back of the interior minister's claims of being threatened by Salafists? RG: There is no tension between Ennahda and the Salafist movement, as we believe that all Tunisians have the right to express their views and be involved in political activity according to the law. We are against slandering the Salafist movement, and oppose any violations of law from any party. What was said by the interior minister was related to some young men who belong to Jihadi groups, who don't respect the law. These groups are involved in a conflict with the state itself rather than Ennahda party, especially as freedom is now guaranteed for all parties, so there is no need to adopt violence. AT: Do you agree to officially recognise al-Tahrir Party (forbidden in most of Arab countries as it calls for establishing an Islamic caliphate)? RG: We will recognise them if they promise to follow the law. AT: Is it true you will not run for the party presidency in Ennahda's next conference planned in July? RG: I revealed my intention to quit the leadership of Ennahda in 2005, but I was asked by the movement's members to stay on as the party was going through a very critical period. We have deported persons living in more than 50 countries around the world, while those who remained in Tunisia were detained or were living under security monitors, so I agreed to retain my position until this year, and my decision remains the same. AT: What is your position towards the issues revolving around those wounded in the revolution and tortured during Ben Ali's era, considering you were tortured yourself? RG: I hope for a quick solution to those issues...I don't think the recent delay is intentional, as I know that transitional justice procedures are very complicated, but I think justice will be served eventually. AT: Do you believe reports that former prime minister Baji Qaed al-Sibsi is planning to create a coalition against your party in the next elections? RG: Sibsi played an important and successful role in the transitional period, and even if there are some differences between us, I will always talk about him positively. We aren't worried nor bothered by any attempts of integration between other parties. In fact this may be better for us, as we can't open dialogue with 120 parties, so integration operations are good for the entire political scene. whatever the differences between us, we will find a lot of common unifying factors. AT: What are your thoughts on supporting the Palestinian cause? And do you believe the constitution should criminalise normalising ties with Israel? RG:The Palestinian cause is the Islamic nations' main cause. Tunisia has been proud to receive the Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh (sacked by President Abbas) and other Palestinian leaders, which shows our absolute support to the Palestinians, and our insistence to ensure their rights. Also we are totally against normalising ties with Israel, but the constitution will be written only by the constituent assembly. AT: How do you see the future of the Syrian revolution? And can Tunisia contribute to the efforts of reaching a solution there? RG: I believe the Syrian revolution will achieve victory, as the Syrian people have shown great commitment to overthrow the regime. Now this revolution enjoys massive international support. We have hosted the first conference of the Friends of Syria group, and that reflected the change in Tunisian diplomacy after the revolution, as it is now more effective both regionally and internationally. AT: How do you assess the media performance of Tunisia's media after the revolution? RG: There is a state of disorder in the media recently. We aim to protect the independence of media organisations, not only from state authorities, but also from political exploitation, so that these organisations can maintain a reasonable approach in dealing with the news. AT: What are your preparations for the next election? And what are your expectations of your party's chances? RG: On the political side we have succeeded in achieving an unprecedented experience in the Arab world of sharing power between Islamists and secularists, and in avoiding a national split about implementing Sharia. We promise to commit to the deadline for writing the constitution and holding the next election. On the other hand, the economy was exposed to what we can describe as a quake, particularly concerning tourism and foreign investments, in addition to the unrest in Libya, but I think there are positive signs now on those three fronts. We have prepared a national programme to support the economy. This program concentrates on the less developed areas and it gives priority to foreign investment, infrastructure projects and exportation. We already achieved some success in these fields. We have investment bids of about $200 billion from Arab and foreign countries. At the same time total exports have raised from 10 percent to 15 percent, although the government was faced with a lot of problems. Anyway, we believe the people have the final word on the government's performance through the ballot boxes.