Political party update 2: Ghannouchi on the U.S, Qatar, and women, Ennahda’s structure, and Ennahda’s conflict with the media

Ennahda’s full structure was released, following its election by the party’s Shura council. TunisieNumerique reports: “It is Hamadi Jebali, secretary general of the movement, Abdelhamid Jelassi, vice president of the party structure, Abdelfattah Mourou, vice president of public affairs, and Rached Ghannouchi, official representative , Laârayedh Ali, deputy Secretary-General.” The complete list is here.

Rafik Abdessalem, Minister of Foreign Affairs, made news this week saying that the current government will remain in power for several years at a meeting held Sunday, August 26, 2012 with members of the local office of Ennahda in Hammam Sousse. Slate reported in remarks to the official news agency, TAP, that he also stated that the Tunisian government was not trying to muzzle the media but to “clean up” and prevent them from becoming “platforms” of the opposition. The government “does not seek to control the media, however, it will not allow certain media to transform themselves into forums of opposition to government action,” he said.

In related comments, Lotfi Zitoun, an advisor to the Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, reportedly told a meeting of Ennahda supporters in Mahdia: “that the government is faced with the obstacle of corrupt media who play the role of opposition, forgetting their principal mission to disseminate information.”

Rached Ghannouchi’s interview with Jeune Afrique offers interesting insight into how the leader of Tunisia’s largest party thinks. Some extracts:

The article on the Rights of the Child adopted by the commission on rights and freedoms of the Constituent Assembly gives full powers to the family to educate and care for children. Is this not a disengagement of the state (from this role)?

Nothing replaces the family. The role of government is to ensure that the structure is preserved. There is no question of sacrificing children to improve economic productivity. For children, the family must take responsibility and we must assume this responsibility until the end. The State must also assume its responsibilities by providing education and care for children and sometimes it must intervene. For example, you can not ask a woman who has six children to go to work, she must be given the means to raise them. We ask a lot of women.

Another article (in the constitution) considers woman the complement of man. Is this not  a decline in the rights won by women?

This is a good law. Who can deny that the man and woman complement each other? The woman alone can do nothing, man neither. The man and woman are independent but complementary as the two halves of a bean. There is no incompatibility between gender equality and complementarity. Everyone needs his half to flourish. But women are free and responsible, and they are equal to men. The prayer of a woman is not worth less than a man, they fast in the same way. They are equal under God and the law, the law of God and of men.

Obama’s America has had a sort of “pact” with Islamists in the Arab world, especially to neutralize jihadism?

Each seeks its own interests. The United States, having long been partners with dictatorships, have understood that it was encouraging extremism. They decided to support democratization to combat terrorism. The Islamists were not created by the United States, they are born of our land. America has recognized the need to include moderate Islamists in the democratic process, they came to us and have revised their crusader policy.

Qatar’s role in the Arab Spring and its real intentions are subject to numerous questions. Some have specifically criticized its interference in the Tunisian revolution. What relations does Ennahda have with Doha?

We are economically colonized by Europe, with which we carryout 83% of our trade. This is very far from being the case for Qatar, which has no army or colonial ambitions. However, Qatar has contributed to the revolution through its media support to Al-Jazeera. It is a ​​partner of the Arab Spring. We respect it (Qatar) for it and appreciate its economic support. It supports several large projects, including a refinery at Skhira, the development of a complex sugar, phosphate extraction and a tourist village in Tozeur. What have we to fear from it (Qatar)? But it is not only Qatar, our policy of openness also includes other Gulf countries. To overcome the crisis and save their economies, Europeans and Westerners received direct money from sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf. Are we not closer? Are we not in the same world? They are Muslims and Arabs like us?

What do you think of the refusal of Saudi Arabia to extradite Ben Ali?

All Tunisians want to him see in the dock. We disagree with the position of Saudi Arabia and will not cease to demand Ben Ali via Interpol. He is a criminal.

How can you reconcile the exclusion of former members of the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD former ruling party) with transitional justice and national reconciliation?

Why did we have a revolution? We oppose the return of the former RCD and its leaders. Ben Ali was not alone. He had the support of an entire system, from coordinating committees to political office. We urge those responsible to come to account, but it is not a general or judicial sanction. Few of them are in prison. It is a sanctions policy under the responsibility of everyone. This is the principle of exclusion.

See political party updates 1 and 3.