The Crisis of the Democratic Bloc and the Dignity Coalition in Tunisia
2020-12-08243 view
First: the background of the topic
The current dispute between the Democratic Bloc and the Dignity Coalition began directly and explicitly after the intervention of the representative of the Dignity Coalition on the part of Sfax, Muhammad al-Afas, in Parliament on December 4 about his concept of the rights of women or the single mother, in which he distinguished between the Islamist and secular concept of women, and the speech was in the form of « they are » and « We are ».
The Democratic Bloc demanded the parliament’s presidency to include the discussion of Al-Afas’s statements in a plenary session, but the presidency did not respond to that, and referred the file to the Women’s Committee in Parliament.
On December 6, the Women's Committee called for a special session to discuss Al-Afas' statements in parallel with the parliament meeting to discuss the government's annual budget. The committee’s meeting was held on Monday, December 7, and the Karama coalition decided to go to the meeting to clarify its opinion on Dr. Al-Afas’s statements.But the committee refused the participation of the members of the bloc, and interrupted the intervention of the head of the bloc, Seif al-Din Makhlouf, which led to a lot of outcry and disrupted the work of the committee before it was over, with great tension between the two parties, the Democratic Bloc and the Karama coalition.
After the participants left the meeting room, there were verbal altercations that turned into a stampede. The parties differed in determining their responsibilities, and the representative of the Democratic Bloc, Anwar, was wounded by the witness, and his blood was clear on tv.
The Democratic Bloc accuses the Dignity Coalition of being involved in the violence and hitting MP Anwar with the witness, and accuses the Dignity Coalition MPs Saif al-Din Makhlouf, Muhammad al-Afas and Ziad al-Hashemi of this, while the Dignity Coalition says that the matter is related to wounding the deputy by the nails of a woman of his supporters who tried to push him to end the dispute.
The problem turned directly into a public opinion issue, as the anti-Renaissance media and the Karama coalition began portraying the event as a terrorist attack in Parliament. The Presidency of the Republic intervened directly and called on the evening of December 7 a delegation from the Women’s Committee, consisting of Amal Al-Saeedi, Anwar Al-Shahid, Samia Abbou, Abdul Razzaq Oweidat, Laila Al-Haddad, Muhammad Ammar, Munira Ayari and Najm Al-Din bin Salem. President Qais Saeed took advantage of the incident and sent threats to the accused parties, and announced his refusal to dialogue with
Those accused of corruption in reference to the heart of Tunisia, as well as threats to the Ennahda movement.
On December 8, the representatives of the Democratic Bloc withdrew from the government budget discussion session, and announced the start of an open sit-in protesting the failure to pass the bloc’s statement denouncing the violence in Parliament, and a rejection of what it called procrastination on the part of the Speaker and his assistants. Parallel with the launch of the open sit-in, there was a campaign of statements supporting the position of the bloc, and the Tunisian General Labor Union and the Tunisian League for Human Rights and Democratic Women participated in the campaign.
Second: Attitudes of the actors
1) Al-Nahda Movement
The movement said in a speech delivered by Representative Imad Khamiri, head of its parliamentary bloc on December 7, that it condemns violence, that violence is one and indivisible, and that Ennahda has been subjected to violence within the parliament as it has been exposed to others.
The Speaker of Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, is the most subjected to verbal violence and the most affected party by many blocs, not for a lack of management of the Assembly, but for ideological and political considerations."
2) The Democratic Bloc
The Current Bloc in Parliament escalated the situation by agreeing to engage in an open sit-in in Parliament to demand the lifting of immunity for members of the coalition bloc to bring them to justice.
3) The Tunisian General Labor Union
The Tunisian General Labor Union entered the line and refused to send its initiative for dialogue to Parliament, except after Parliament issued a statement condemning the Dignity Coalition.
-) Al-Karama Coalition
The coalition considered that the position of Al-Afas is guaranteed by the constitution and the immunity it grants to the deputy to express its voters' opinion, and they refused to acknowledge their practice of violence, and considered that they were the victims of a conspiracy involving Abeer Moussa and the Democratic bloc with open Emirati support. They also considered that the campaign they are being subjected to is part of a regionally backed conspiracy to abort the democratic process.
-) the heart of Tunisia
This group called for invoking the constitution and adhering to dialogue. Qalb Tounes MP, Iyad Al-Loumi, went up to demanding the implementation of Article 72 of the Constitution, which leads to the execution of those who demand the dissolution of Parliament.
Third: the effect on the actors
1) Al-Karama Coalition
The Dignity Coalition popularly won the battle, because it sided with the sentiments of many conservative Tunisians, and presented a proposal that Ennahda did not offer, which might help the coalition attract more Ennahda voters, who see that the movement presents a fluid discourse that does not express their orientations.
On the other hand, the coalition, in its ongoing battles with the various parties, risks losing its presence in the political scene, as a number of political forces may push to demand its dissolution, and it will not find many defenders at that time.
2) The Democratic Bloc
This battle will lead to the division of the democratic movement in light of the contrast between the former head of the current, Mohamed Abbou, who called for the movement of the army; And his current president, who totally opposes this position and calls for dialogue.
On the other hand, the democratic bloc was able in this battle to reintroduce itself to the liberal public as the fierce defender of the value of the Bourguib Republic, and it competes in this context with the Free Constitutional Party, which in this parliament took the lead in similar battles.
3) Al-Nahda Movement
On this issue, Ennahda faced a double crisis, as it is in a difficult position between providing support to its political ally, the Dignity Coalition, which could mean defending its political positions, which are outside the scope of its political and intellectual ceiling.
They refuse to comment on the content of what MP Al-Afas spoke ; and that him into the circle of targeting, from which many already suffer. Conversely, his refusal to vigorously defend the Karama coalition means risking the loss of his strong ally, which the Renaissance does not want at all.
