Tunisia’s Challenging Transition : An Interview with Mehrezia Labidi

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    How do you view Ennahda’s role in the unity government?

    Our leadership declared—even in 2011, just after the revolution, and even before the election of the constituent assembly—that the transition is a sensitive period and we cannot lead it alone, that no political party, no political actor is able to lead Tunisia alone in this very sensitive and fragile period. So we were [in favor of a] participatory process. During the first government, we worked hard to have partners among other political families like the social democrats and the liberal democrats. And after the election of 2014, we declared that we are not just going to be in the opposition, we are going to be in a coalition. This coalition now is extended to the national unity government, because Tunisia needs all its vivid forces [together] to get through this very sensitive period. In this government, we have about seven political parties who contributed to the Carthage Agreement. And the three main civil society organizations—UGTT, the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fishery (UTAP), and the employers’ union—are also included. We have two ministers who were originally members of the UGTT.