organization:ennahda

The U.S. is wrong about the Muslim Brotherhood — and the Arab world is suffering for it
►https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/08/28/the-u-s-is-wrong-about-the-muslim-brotherhood-and-the-arab-world-is-suffering-for-it/?noredirect=on

Texte intégral de l’article:
By Jamal Khashoggi

August 28, 2018
During the Obama presidency, the U.S. administration was wary of the Muslim Brotherhood, which had come to power in Egypt after the country’s first-ever free elections. Despite his declared support for democracy and change in the Arab world in the wake of the Arab Spring, then-President Barack Obama did not take a strong position and reject the coup against President-elect Mohamed Morsi. The coup, as we know, led to the military’s return to power in the largest Arab country — along with tyranny, repression, corruption and mismanagement.
That is the conclusion that David D. Kirkpatrick arrives at in his excellent book “Into the Hands of the Soldiers,” which was released this month. A former Cairo bureau chief for the New York Times, Kirkpatrick gives a sad account of Egypt’s 2013 coup that led to the loss of a great opportunity to reform the entire Arab world and allow a historic change that might have freed the region from a thousand years of tyranny.
The United States’s aversion to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is more apparent in the current Trump administration, is the root of a predicament across the entire Arab world. The eradication of the Muslim Brotherhood is nothing less than an abolition of democracy and a guarantee that Arabs will continue living under authoritarian and corrupt regimes. In turn, this will mean the continuation of the causes behind revolution, extremism and refugees — all of which have affected the security of Europe and the rest of the world. Terrorism and the refugee crisis have changed the political mood in the West and brought the extreme right to prominence there.
There can be no political reform and democracy in any Arab country without accepting that political Islam is a part of it. A significant number of citizens in any given Arab country will give their vote to Islamic political parties if some form of democracy is allowed. It seems clear then that the only way to prevent political Islam from playing a role in Arab politics is to abolish democracy, which essentially deprives citizens of their basic right to choose their political representatives.
Shafeeq Ghabra, a professor of political science at Kuwait University, explains the problem in this way: “The Arab regimes’ war on the Brotherhood does not target the movement alone, but rather targets those who practice politics, who demand freedom and accountability, and all who have a popular base in society.” A quick look at the political degradation that has taken place in Egypt since the military’s return to power confirms what Ghabra says. President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi’s regime has cracked down on the Islamists and arrested some 60,000 of them. Now it has extended its heavy hand against both secular and military figures, even those who supported him in the coup. In today’s Egypt, political life is totally dead.
It is wrong to dwell on political Islam, conservatism and identity issues when the choice is between having a free society tolerant of all viewpoints and having an oppressive regime. Five years of Sissi’s rule in Egypt makes this point clear.
There are efforts here in Washington, encouraged by some Arab states that do not support freedom and democracy, to persuade Congress to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. If they succeed, the designation will weaken the fragile steps toward democracy and political reform that have already been curbed in the Arab world. It will also push backward the Arab countries that have made progress in creating a tolerant environment and allowing political participation by various components of society, including the Islamists.
Islamists today participate in the parliaments of various Arab countries such as Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia and Morocco. This has led to the emergence of Islamic democracy, such as the Ennahda movement in Tunisia, and the maturing of democratic transformation in the other countries.
The coup in Egypt led to the loss of a precious opportunity for Egypt and the entire Arab world. If the democratic process had continued there, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political practices could have matured and become more inclusive, and the unimaginable peaceful rotation of power could have become a reality and a precedent to be followed.
The Trump administration always says it wants to correct Obama’s mistakes. It should add his mishandling of Arab democracy to its list. Obama erred when he wasted the precious opportunity that could have changed the history of the Arab world, and when he caved to pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as from members of his own administration. They all missed the big picture and were governed by their intolerant hatred for any form of political Islam, a hatred that has destroyed Arabs’ choice for democracy and good governance.

#démocratie #Islam #pays-arabes #Egypte #Sissi #Morsi #Révolutions-arabes #Trump #Etats-Unis #coup-d'état

Can Islamist moderates remake the politics of the Muslim world? - CSMonitor.com

▻https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2018/0919/Can-Islamist-moderates-remake-the-politics-of-the-Muslim-world

By Taylor Luck Correspondent

AMMAN, JORDAN; TUNIS, TUNISIA; KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Alaa Faroukh insists he is the future. After nearly a decade in the Muslim Brotherhood, he says that he has finally found harmony between his faith and politics, not as a hardcore Islamist, but as a “Muslim democrat.”

“We respect and include minorities, we fight for women’s rights, we respect different points of view, we are democratic both in our homes and in our politics – that is how we honor our faith,” Mr. Faroukh says.

The jovial psychologist with a toothy smile, who can quote Freud as easily as he can recite the Quran, is speaking from his airy Amman clinic, located one floor below the headquarters of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, the very movement he left.

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“The time of divisive politics of older Islamists is over, and everyone in my generation agrees,” says the 30-something Faroukh. “The era of political Islam is dead.”

Faroukh is symbolic of a shift sweeping through parts of the Arab world. From Tunisia to Egypt to Jordan, many Islamist activists and some established Islamic organizations are adopting a more progressive and moderate tone in their approach to politics and governing. They are reaching out to minorities and secular Muslims while doing away with decades-old political goals to impose their interpretation of Islam on society.

Taylor Luck
“The time of divisive politics of older Islamists is over, and everyone in my generation agrees. The era of political Islam is dead,” says Alaa Faroukh, a young Jordanian who left the Muslim Brotherhood for a moderate political party.
Part of the move is simple pragmatism. After watching the Muslim Brotherhood – with its call for sharia (Islamic law) and failure to reach out to minorities and secular Muslims – get routed in Egypt, and the defeat of other political Islamic groups across the Arab world, many Islamic activists believe taking a more moderate stance is the only way to gain and hold power. Yet others, including many young Muslims, believe a deeper ideological shift is under way in which Islamist organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of religious tolerance and political pluralism in modern societies. 

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While Islamist movements remain the largest and most potent political movement in the region, a widespread adoption of democratic principles by their followers could transform the discourse in a region where politics are often bound to identity and are bitterly polarized.

“We believe that young Jordanians and young Arabs in general see that the future is not in partisan politics, but in cooperation, understanding, and putting the country above petty party politics,” says Rheil Gharaibeh, the moderate former head of the Jordanian Brotherhood’s politburo who has formed his own political party.

Is this the beginning of a fundamental shift in the politics of the Middle East or just an expedient move by a few activists?

*

Many Islamist groups say their move to the center is a natural step in multiparty politics, but this obscures how far their positions have truly shifted in a short time.

Some 20 years ago, the manifesto of the Muslim Brotherhood – the Sunni Islamic political group with affiliates across the Arab world – called for the implementation of sharia and gender segregation at universities, and commonly employed slogans such as “Islam is the solution.”

In 2011, the Arab Spring uprisings swept these Islamist movements into power or installed them as the leading political force from the Arab Gulf to Morocco, sparking fears of an Islamization of Arab societies.

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But instead of rolling back women’s rights, the Tunisian Islamist party Ennahda pushed through gender equality laws and helped write the most progressive, gender-equal constitution in the Arab world. The Moroccan Justice and Development Party (PJD) has played down its Islamic rhetoric, abandoning talk of Islamic identity and sharia and instead speaking about democratic reform and human rights. And the Brotherhood in Jordan traded in its slogan “Islam is the solution” for “the people demand reform” and “popular sovereignty for all.”

The past few years have seen an even more dramatic shift to the center. Not only have Islamist movements dropped calls for using sharia as a main source of law, but they nearly all now advocate for a “civil state”­ – a secular nation where the law, rather than holy scriptures or the word of God, is sovereign.

Muhammad Hamed/Reuters
Supporters of the National Alliance for Reform rally in Amman, Jordan, in 2016. They have rebranded themselves as a national rather than an Islamic movement.
In Morocco and Jordan, Islamist groups separated their religious activities – preaching, charitable activities, and dawa (spreading the good word of God) – from their political branches. In 2016, Ennahda members in Tunisia went one step further and essentially eliminated their religious activities altogether, rebranding themselves as “Muslim democrats.”

Islamist moderates say this shift away from religious activities to a greater focus on party politics is a natural step in line with what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has done with his Justice and Development Party in Turkey, or even, they hope, with the Christian democrats in Europe: to become movements inspired by faith, not governing through faith.

“While we are a Muslim country, we are aware that we do not have one interpretation of religion and we will not impose one interpretation of faith over others,” says Mehrezia Labidi, a member of the Tunisian Parliament and Ennahda party leader. “As Muslim democrats we are guided by Islamic values, but we are bound by the Constitution, the will of the people, and the rule of law for all.”

Experts say this shift is a natural evolution for movements that are taking part in the decisionmaking process for the first time after decades in the opposition.

“As the opposition, you can refuse, you can criticize, you can obstruct,” says Rachid Mouqtadir, professor of political science at Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco, and an expert in Islamist movements. “But when you are in a coalition with other parties and trying to govern, the parameters change, your approach changes, and as a result your ideology changes.”

The trend has even gone beyond the borders of the Arab world. The Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), founded in 1971 by Malaysian university students inspired by the Brotherhood and now one of the strongest civil society groups in the country, is also shedding the “Islamist” label.

In addition to running schools and hospitals, ABIM now hosts interfaith concerts, partners on projects with Christians and Buddhists, and even reaches out to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists in its campaign for social justice.

“We are in the age of post-political Islam,” says Ahmad Fahmi Mohd Samsudin, ABIM vice president, from the movement’s headquarters in a leafy Kuala Lumpur suburb. “That means when we say we stand for Islam, we stand for social justice and equality for all – no matter their faith or background.”

*

The U.S. is wrong about the Muslim Brotherhood — and the Arab world is suffering for it - The Washington Post

By Jamal Khashoggi
August 28 at 3:26 PM

▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/08/28/the-u-s-is-wrong-about-the-muslim-brotherhood-and-the-arab-world-is-

During the Obama presidency, the U.S. administration was wary of the Muslim Brotherhood, which had come to power in Egypt after the country’s first-ever free elections. Despite his declared support for democracy and change in the Arab world in the wake of the Arab Spring, then-President Barack Obama did not take a strong position and reject the coup against President-elect Mohamed Morsi. The coup, as we know, led to the military’s return to power in the largest Arab country — along with tyranny, repression, corruption and mismanagement.

That is the conclusion that David D. Kirkpatrick arrives at in his excellent book “Into the Hands of the Soldiers,” which was released this month. A former Cairo bureau chief for the New York Times, Kirkpatrick gives a sad account of Egypt’s 2013 coup that led to the loss of a great opportunity to reform the entire Arab world and allow a historic change that might have freed the region from a thousand years of tyranny.

Article offert : En Tunisie, les forces de sécurité sont prises en défaut à Sousse | Mediapart
▻http://www.mediapart.fr/article/offert/2562e950bed580c435f2ba25746c9994

Plusieurs cadres du ministère sollicités depuis vendredi par Mediapart pointent du doigt le limogeage en mars 2015 de Imed Ghodhbani, jusque-là directeur général de la sûreté nationale, accusé d’être trop proche du parti Ennahda (parti au pouvoir de janvier 2012 à janvier 2014, et qui fait partie de l’actuel gouvernement de coalition). Plus grave, selon ces mêmes sources : ce limogeage s’est accompagné de la suppression pure et simple de ce poste à la direction générale de la sûreté nationale, la direction de la police étant dès lors censée être directement assurée par le secrétaire d’État aux affaires sécuritaires, Rafik Chelly, nommé en février 2015. L’autorité de Rafik Chelly s’impose déjà au directeur général de la garde nationale, ainsi qu’au directeur de l’office de la protection civile.

C’est dans ce schéma de direction que la Tunisie a connu ces deux attentats les plus meurtriers. La suppression de la fonction de directeur général de la sûreté nationale a en effet été annoncée le 3 mars 2015, soit 15 jours avant l’attentat du Bardo...

Despotisme ou démocratie, l’enjeu des élections présidentielles de dimanche vu par le leader islamiste tunisien...

How Tunisia Will Succeed - NYTimes.com

The Opinion Pages | OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

By RACHID GHANNOUCHI NOV. 19, 2014

TUNIS — In this time of great change in the Arab region, political struggles are often viewed exclusively through an ideological lens, creating the impression of a binary choice between Islamists and secularists. But the fundamental choice facing the citizens living through this tumultuous period in Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Libya is not between Islamism and secularism, but between democracy and despotism.

The binary view also overlooks the considerable pluralism within the political trends in both Tunisia and other Arab countries. Islamists are not only diverse in type, but have also evolved over the last century. Whereas their primary focus was once on protecting religious freedom and defending an identity that had undergone repression, many Islamists have come to participate in political parties whose principal focus is economic and social programs aimed at protecting individual rights and achieving social justice.

For my own party, Ennahda (which means renaissance), the Oct. 26 legislative elections in Tunisia were not about the role of Islam in society. They were an opportunity to address issues of unemployment, more inclusive economic growth, security, regional development and income inequality — in other words, the bread-and-butter issues that matter to ordinary Tunisians. When Ennahda conceded defeat in the parliamentary elections to the Nidaa Tounes party last month, the atmosphere at our party headquarters was not downcast, but festive — a testament to our belief that this was nonetheless a victory for Tunisian democracy.

Establishing the people’s sovereignty through the ballot box was one of the most important aims of the 2011 revolution, and of the Ennahda party itself. Holding our second free and fair election was, regardless of the result, a key step to securing Tunisia’s long-term democratic future.

The dictatorships of Habib Bourguiba and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali that together lasted nearly 50 years led to endemic corruption, repression of dissent and disastrous economic underdevelopment. Tunisia’s democratic transition involves establishing institutions that will protect the interests of citizens. Without the commitment of Islamists like Ennahda to dialogue, cooperation and compromise, Tunisia would not have remained the sole peaceful island in a turbulent region.

But democracy means more than just elections. Ennahda supports the concept of a strong civil authority, as defined in Tunisia’s Constitution, where the state is the guarantor of all freedoms and rights. This fabric, with a clear “made in Tunisia” label, is what will make the democratic transition succeed. And it includes the contribution of reformist Islam, to which my party adheres and which has argued, for more than 150 years, that democracy and Islam are not in conflict. Today, in Tunisia, we are proving that true.

Most of the political spectrum in our country is evolving toward more centrist and pragmatic politics. The reduction of the elections to an “Islamist/secularist” dichotomy is unhelpful and inaccurate. In fact, most secularist parties, including Nidaa Tounes, reject the label of “laïcité,” or secularism, as unhelpfully polarizing.

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It would be a grave mistake to respond to the threat of terrorism and extremism by forcibly excluding religious values from public life. This kind of repression has been at the root of terrorism in our region. Under the former presidents of Tunisia, the institutions of mainstream reformist Islamic thought were shut down or restricted, leaving the way for extremist ideas to fill the vacuum.

Young people growing up in the Ben Ali era had no reference points for moderate Tunisian Islamic thought, and some turned to extremism. The threat of terrorism then became a convenient card the regime could wave every time the international community pressured it to respect human rights or introduce political reform. The mistaken bargain of maintaining stability in the Arab world by sacrificing freedom ended up undermining both.

The solution to extremism is not less freedom, but more. The solution to terrorism is not less religion; it is freedom of religion and the cultivation of moderate, balanced religious thought. Muslim democrats have an important role to play in combating the spread of extremist interpretations by upholding democratic values of freedom and pluralism.

In many countries in my region, losing power — through an election or otherwise — used to entail imprisonment, mass repression or worse. In some, it still may, but today, we have a new Tunisia, in which politics is pluralistic, our differences are resolved through mediation, and no individual party monopolizes authority.

Ennahda has demonstrated its commitment to consensual democracy: We shared power when in office and handed over power to a technocratic government to guarantee free elections. For next month’s presidential election, we have chosen to neither field nor back a candidate, because we judged that this abstention would help maintain the equilibrium necessary for the healthy development of our democracy.

Tunisia still faces a daunting task. The Constitution, with its vision of a separation of powers and newly accountable institutions, has yet to be implemented. The “truth and dignity” commission has just begun its work toward providing justice to the victims of the Ben Ali dictatorship; this process is vital to healing the wounds of the past.

Tunisia will need the cooperation of all political parties to tackle much-needed reforms of economic subsidies and public administration, and of our banking system and investment laws. Consensus has got us this far, but Tunisia will need an inclusive, democratic approach if it is to solve the problems that are the legacy of dictatorship.

Nearly four years have passed since a man named Mohamed Bouazizi so despaired of the system that he set himself on fire in protest. With every decision we make, politicians in Tunisia must never forget what he died for. We need to protect freedom and dignity, and provide hope and opportunity. This was the dream of the Tunisian Awakening, and it is how Tunisia will succeed today.

Rachid Ghannouchi, a Tunisian politician, is a founder and the leader of the Ennahda Party.

Abu Aardvark:
Domination and Tunisian Politics

▻http://abuaardvark.typepad.com November 15, 2014

I recently returned from a short trip to Tunis, where I had the chance to check in with a variety of folks about the current political scene. I met with senior members of both Nedaa Tounis and the Ennahda movement (including Rached Ghannouchi), along with a variety of journalists and civil society activists. I was particularly interested in exploring the role of the media in post-uprising Tunisia, for a paper I’ll be circulating soon (spoiler: like in Egypt, it’s played an extremely negative role).

But I was also keen to look for answers to a question which has been nagging at me ever since last month’s Nedaa Tounes victory in the Parliamentary elections: why doesn’t anyone seem to be as worried by the prospect of Nedaa Tounes “dominating” Tunisan politics as they were by the prospect of Ennahda “domination”? Or is that only for Islamists? Should Nedaa be looking to form an inclusive coalition rather than governing from one side of a polarized public? Should Ennahda be worried that an explicitly anti-Islamist government would try to crush it Ben Ali or Sisi-style? 

After years of the world’s agonizing over the prospects of its domination, Ennahda chose to not field a candidate in the upcoming Presidential election (if only Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood had done the same), and surrendered the Prime Minister position in the face of an intense political crisis earlier this year. But Nedaa has done nothing of the sort. After winning the Parliamentary election, its candidate Beji Caid el-Sibsi is a shaky frontrunner to win the November 23 Presidential election. His victory would give Nedaa control over both the legislative and executive branches, with likely support for any sort of anti-Islamist agenda forthcoming from the unreformed judiciary. Shouldn’t everyone be worried about one side of a polarized political arena poised to potentially dominate all branches of government in a fragile democratic transition? 

The most common answer I heard in my conversations was that nobody believed that Nedaa could hold itself together long enough to actually dominate. They pointed to the tensions between different parts of the Nedaa coalition, which includes both fervently anti-Islamist leftists and a neoliberal capitalist elites. Nedaa won only a narrow Parliamentary victory, and will have to form a coalition of some kind to govern. With only Sebsi and hatred of Ennahda holding Nedaa together, there would be no ideological consensus to impose upon Tunisia and numerous opportunities for the new party to fragment and turn upon itself. With Ennahda defeated, or if Sebsi passes from the scene, most seem to believe that the Nedaa coalition will fall apart and normal politics will ensue.❞

Portrait de Sayida Ounissi, nouvelle députée Ennahda | MeltingBook

▻http://www.meltingbook.com/ads/sayida-ounissi-deputee-ennahda-nouvelle-generation

Sayida Ounissi vient d’être élue députée Ennahda en Tunisie pour la zone France 1. A 27 ans, cette doctorante symbolise, à sa manière, l’accession de la jeunesse arabe aux responsabilités. Elle représentera les Franco-tunisiens. Plus de trois ans après la révolution du 14 janvier 2011, la jeune député n’est plus dans le symbole. Mais bien dans l’action.

En août dernier, Ennahda lui propose d’être candidate. Depuis hier soir, elle est députée Ennahda dans la nouvelle assemblée nationale tunisienne. Elue dans la zone France 1, elle compte bien jouer un rôle clé. L’enjeu est de taille. La démocratie maghrébine, elle a rêvé. Les électeurs l’ont fait.

Sayida Ounissi est heureuse. Son parti, Ennahda, vient de remporter deux sièges pour les Tunisiens de l’étranger. Au delà du symbole, Sayida Ounissi, diplômée de Panthéon-Sorbonne, porte avant tout des convictions. Parmi elles, la compatibilité de l’Islam politique avec la démocratie.

Entretien avec Rached Ghannouchi - Institut Jean Lecanuet - France Forum
▻http://www.institutjeanlecanuet.org/blog

Jeudi 28 août 2014

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ENTRETIEN AVEC RACHED GHANNOUCHI

Terre de naissance des révolutions arabes, la Tunisie vit, depuis trois ans, un chapitre capital de sa jeune histoire. C’est évidemment l’opinion de Rached Ghannouchi, président du parti Ennahda. Pour lui, l’ensemble de l’islam est concerné par l’expérience démocratique tunisienne. « Ce qui est en train de se passer en Tunisie libère l’image de l’islam de celle du terrorisme et lui associe celle de la démocratie : une démocratie musulmane, assise sur une souveraineté populaire. » La religion garde un rôle important tempère Rached Ghannouchi, mais un rôle différent : « Diffuser des valeurs de paix et de tolérance, d’équité et de justice. » Est-ce bien l’avis de tous les Tunisiens ? « Islamistes et laïques modérés peuvent vivre ensemble. Le problème vient des extrémistes des deux camps », répond le président d’Ennahda.

Guillaume Klossa, président du think tank EuropaNova se demande néanmoins si, derrière le mot démocratie, chacun met bien la même chose. Le responsable politique tunisien est on ne peut plus clair dans sa réponse : « J’ai 72 ans et, dans ma vie, je n’ai voté qu’une fois, mais je sais ce que veut dire pour moi la démocratie : des élections libres et multipartistes, la liberté de la presse, l’égalité des sexes, la justice, l’alternance au pouvoir. » Et puis, fait-il remarquer : « Nous ne sortons pas d’une période avec un gouvernement “fort” comme ont dit certains politiques en France après la chute de Ben Ali, mais d’une dictature véritable. » Ce sera la seule petite mise au point du déjeuner car « les Tunisiens veulent aller de l’avant. Le reste, c’est de l’histoire ancienne », n’a cessé de répéter Rached Ghannouchi.

Le sénateur de Paris Yves Pozzo di Borgo évoque les prochaines élections en Tunisie et leurs conséquences possibles sur la cohésion nationale du pays. Rached Ghannouchi, dont le parti est donné favori, se montre rassurant : « Les élections auront lieu à la fin de l’année et, quelle que soit l’issue, un gouvernement de coalition est souhaitable car notre démocratie naissante est encore fragile. Oui, un consensus est nécessaire même si une majorité se dégage. Il nous faut encore au moins cinq ans pour stabiliser notre démocratie. »

Rachida Dati, ancien ministre de la Justice, député européen et maire du 7e arrondissement de Paris, et Anne-Marie Idrac, ancien secrétaire d’État aux Transports et au Commerce extérieur et ancienne présidente de la SNCF et de la RATP, abordent la situation compliquée des autres pays arabes : Syrie, Irak, Libye, Egypte. Entre contextes sociaux sectaires ou communautaristes, interventions extérieures, aucune solution ne semble émerger. Rached Ghannouchi constate aussi ces crises et les fortes difficultés pour qu’une véritable démocratie s’installe dans ces pays voisins, mais il reste optimiste, notamment pour l’Egypte : « Le monde arabe dans son ensemble est entré dans une nouvelle ère comme l’Europe l’a été à la suite de la Révolution française. La révolution égyptienne réussira aussi sa mue démocratique. Le génie ne retournera pas dans sa lampe ! La Tunisie a mieux réussi que les autres parce que la situation y est moins complexe. Notre société est plus homogène comparée à l’Irak, à la Syrie ou à l’Egypte. Forcément, le prix de la démocratie sera plus lourd dans ces pays. » Yves Pozzo di Borgo évoque les relations politiques des nouveaux partis du monde arabe et interroge sur les relations entre Tunisie, Algérie et Maroc. « Qu’attendez-vous de la France ? » demande Rachida Dati. « Nous attendons que nos amis français et européens nous aident, que les démocraties européennes et toute la communauté internationale fassent leur devoir car il n’y a pas d’autres solutions que la réussite de la démocratie. Chacun y a intérêt. » Il ajoute : « Nous sommes avec tous ceux qui se battent pour la démocratie et contre le terrorisme. Le vrai visage de l’islam, c’est la liberté et la démocratie. Nous devons montrer le bon produit islamique pour faire disparaître le mauvais. » Anne-Marie Idrac ajoute : « Vous devez, de votre côté, nous aider à mieux vous comprendre, c’est bien le but de telles rencontres. »

Guillaume Klossa s’interroge sur l’état des relations avec la France compte tenu des tensions diplomatiques au moment de la révolution. Rached Ghannouchi le rassure : « Les relations avec la France et aussi avec l’Europe s’améliorent. La Tunisie a maintenant un accord de partenariat privilégié avec l’Europe. Les visites ministérielles de la France sont nombreuses. L’ambassadeur de France en Tunisie a prononcé un discours en arabe. Le nombre d’étudiants tunisiens en France augmente. Les touristes français sont un peu moins nombreux, mais c’est aussi le résultat de la crise économique en France. » « C’est aujourd’hui notre intérêt et celui de l’Europe de vous connaître et de vous accompagner vers la démocratie. J’espère que la nouvelle Commission européenne sera à la hauteur de cet enjeu », ajoute Rachida Dati.

« L’union du Maghreb reste un objectif, mais la question du Sahara est toujours un point très dur entre l’Algérie et le Maroc », précise le président d’Ennahda.

Fadila Mehal, conseillère de Paris, voit bien les interrogations qui persistent dans la société française envers les évolutions en cours en Tunisie ou au Maroc et souhaite le faire entendre à Rached Ghannouchi : « La France a deux points de vigilance très forts qui peuvent compliquer nos relations. Je pense à la question du rôle des partis religieux par rapport à nos valeurs de laïcité et aussi à la question des femmes. »

Rachida Dati partage la remarque de Fadila Mehal, mais elle note néanmoins que « nous sommes exigeants avec les peuples arabes comme en Tunisie alors que nous avons cautionné pendant des années des dictatures ». Et elle déplore que le ressentiment contre l’Islam repose parfois sur des fantasmes ou des comportements très minoritaires : « La loi sur les signes ostentatoires, puis celle sur le port de la burqa n’ont causé aucun problème dans la communauté musulmane et chez ses responsables. »

Clichés arabes

La constituante tunisienne

http://www.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/465img/p25_20140124_pic1.jpg

Le parlement égyptien début 2012... (Depuis, quelques-uns ont dû connaître de sérieux problèmes.)

http://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/2012/03/06/c77eaed0-6790-11e1-80d6-d8bb2a363fe9-493x328.jpg

#clichés_arabes

Tunisie : première concession des islamistes d’Ennahda

▻http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2013/02/27/01003-20130227ARTFIG00501-tunisie-premiere-concession-des-islamistes-d-enna

L’annonce du leader du parti Ennahda mercredi matin sur une radio tunisienne pourrait marquer la fin d’une longue période de blocage politique en Tunisie. « Nous confirmons la neutralisation des quatre ministères de souveraineté, a déclaré Rached Ghannouchi sur Radio Kalima. Le ministère de l’Intérieur, y compris, sera attribué à une personnalité hors des partis politiques. »

C’était la pierre d’achoppement, la question qui bloquait tout. Les partis alliés d’Ennahda au sein de la troïka au pouvoir et l’opposition estimaient depuis plusieurs semaines que pour répondre à la grave crise que traverse le pays, il fallait ouvrir le gouvernement à d’autres partis et céder les ministères de souveraineté à des personnalités indépendantes. Ces technocrates qu’Hamadi Jebali, le premier ministre démissionnaire, voulait voir à la tête de chaque ministère. Il l’avait annoncé au soir de l’assassinat de l’opposant anti-islamiste Chokri Belaïd. Désavoué par son parti et incapable de mettre en place le gouvernement espéré, il a jeté l’éponge la semaine dernière.

Une révolution par le bas | Contretemps (23.01.11)
►http://www.contretemps.eu/interviews/revolution-par-bas

Quant à l’intégration des islamistes au jeu politique, là aussi, il faut se garder d’une analyste simpliste qui opposerait de manière caricaturale le « camp laïque » au « camp islamisant ». Nombre de militants d’extrême gauche, de féministes et de démocrates progressistes sont clairement pour que les islamistes du parti #Ennahda (Renaissance) participent au jeu démocratique tunisien. D’autres, en revanche, continuent à agiter le « chiffon vert ». En exil, les #islamistes réformistes participaient déjà à de nombreux forums de l’opposition démocratique. Il s’est produit un phénomène d’acculturation réciproque : la gauche a appris à connaître les islamistes (les Khouanjis comme on dit en tunisien) et les islamistes ont largement révisé leurs positions, en admettant un certain nombre d’acquis sécularistes comme le Code du statut personnel qui, comme vous le savez, est plutôt égalitaire en #Tunisie (interdiction de la polygamie, abolition de la répudiation et instauration du mariage et du divorce civils). Le parti islamiste de Rached Ghanouchi a pour modèle le parti #AKP d’Erdogan qui est actuellement au gouvernement en Turquie. Rien à voir avec Al Qaeda ou le salafisme étriqué de l’Arabie Saoudite. Toutefois, il n’est pas impossible que le thème de l’épouvantail islamiste, du « péril vert », soit brandi par un certains nombre d’acteurs qui ont intérêt à faire capoter le processus de démocratisation.

Tunisie : Rached Ghannouchi tombe le masque
►http://www.slateafrique.com/96273/tunisie-lepitre-aux-salafites-dun-khomeiny-sunnite-ghannouchi

Le scandale de la vidéo du leader islamiste tunisien collaborant avec les salafistes révèle le vrai agenda du parti Ennahda au pouvoir. Selon un chroniqueur algérien, c’est la preuve éclatante que l’islamisme modéré est un leurre.

#Tunisie #leurre

Tunisie : Cheikh Ghannouchi on Air | shaman
►http://reflets.info/tunisie-cheikh-ghannouchi-on-air

Retour sur la scène tunisienne avec cette deuxième interview, issu de l’émission « Empire » de Marwan Bishara. Lors de notre précédant interview, nous avions relayé la parole de Moncef Marzouki, le nouveau président Tunisien. Cela se passait ici : Tunisie : Moncef Marzouki On Air Donnons maintenant la parole à Cheikh Ghannouchi, chef du parti Ennahda. Ennahda est le grand vainqueur des élections du 23 octobre dernier. Cette formation islamiste s’est placée au coeur de la politique tunisienne en remportant 41,7% des sièges de la nouvelle assemblée constituante et a obtenu le poste de premier ministre : Hamadi Jebali, numéro 2 du parti, dirige actuellement le gouvernement tunisien. Rached Ghannouchi, en exil à Londres depuis plus de vingt ans, critiqué mais toujours resté à la tête de Ennahda, a pu rentrer dans son pays, suite à la chute de Ben Ali. Mais à peine rentré, qu’il semble déjà voir plus loin. Suite aux succès de son parti aux élections constituantes tunisienne, il déclare : Je me trouve beaucoup mieux dans l’univers de la pensée que dans celui de la politique. Ce qui m’intéresse, c’est de voir la Tunisie développer une démocratie qui marie l’islam et la modernité. Je serai très heureux quand (...)

La Tunisie, le Hamas, la Palestine et les juifs | Alain Gresh (Les blogs du Diplo)
►http://blog.mondediplo.net/2012-01-10-La-Tunisie-le-Hamas-la-Palestine-et-les-juifs

Premier ministre du gouvernement palestinien à Gaza, Ismaïl Haniyeh, dirigeant du Hamas, a quitté Tunis lundi 9 janvier à l’issue d’une visite de cinq jours. Il était accompagné à l’aéroport par le premier ministre tunisien Hamadi Jebali et le président du parti Ennahda Rached Ghannouchi, qui étaient venus l’accueillir. Ce long séjour, à l’invitation du gouvernement, illustre les changements intervenus sur la scène arabe depuis un an. (...) Source : Les blogs du Diplo