Has Nidaa Tounes been scorched with the fire of power before even exercising it?

Observes have anticipated that the intensity of the internal dispute within the Nidaa Tounis party will escalate during the coming days.

Political analyst and writer Salahuddin Al-Jurshi told Arabi21 that the party is currently witnessing an exchange of accusations among a number of its leaders amid attempts to seize control of the decision making machine within the party. He added that various cadres within Nidaa Tounes are endeavouring to establish themselves in authority whether within the internal structures of the party or within the new government set up.

He went on to say: “It has now become clear that Nidaa Tounes’s internal contradictions, about which there was so much talk before, have surfaced and are openly manifested among the top leaders of the party. There are two factors behind this: the choice of prime minister and the allocation of cabinet portfolios.”

Al-Jurshi noted that Nidaa Tounes considers the prime minister’s position an exclusive right for the party and that it has been conceded because of a veto exercised by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi who resigned from the party. Al-Jurshi stressed that a large number of the movement’s deputies wished to be assigned government positions. However, Essebsi’s decision prevented the overwhelming majority from holding cabinet portfolios.

He also pointed out that the Nidaa bloc believes that some of President Essebsi’s advisers inside Carthage Palace are the ones who stand behind the “injustice” inflicted upon them and deny them the chance to join the government of Habib Essid.

A source close to Nidaa Tounes has told Arabi21 that what the party, which came first in the parliamentary elections and went on to win the presidential elections, is witnessing are old disagreements that were temporarily put on hold for the sake of the elections but have now resurfaced.

The source, who refused to be named, said that the disputes of the past have deepened between the leaders of Nidaa Tounes following the success of Beji Caid Essebsi in the presidential elections and the decision not to commission Al-Bakkush to form the government.

He added that the dispute was augmented because of the decision to appoint three leaders to the Founding Assembly: the President’s son Hafiz Caid Essebsi, parliament speaker Muhammad Al-Nassir and head of the parliamentary bloc Muhammad Fadil Imran.

The source expected the conflict will reach a climax during the party’s founding congress that is expected to convene in June 2015.

Family business

Speaking on local radio, one of Nidaa Tounes’ leaders Khamis Kssila said that there are signs in the horizon that an explosion may occur in the party. He added that President Essebsi’s advisors Mohsin Marzouk and Rafie Bin Ashour pose the biggest threat to the party and to Tunisia.

Speaking to Cape FM radio station last Thursday, Kssila said that Marzouk and Bin Ashour are thinking like a clan and wish to control the party and exclude its parliamentary bloc from consultations about the cabinet and its composition as well as from other decisions pertaining to the movement.

He likened the condition of Nidaa Tounes today with that of the Congress for the Republic Party after its president moved into the Presidential Carthage Palace and the organisation splintered into four. He also noted that Nidaa will meet the same fate.

Kssila added: “The crisis of Nidaa Tounis started when those who entered the Carthage Palace sought to undermine the party and barter it.” According to observers this was in reference to advisors Muhsin Marzouk and Rafie Bin Ashour.

He criticised appointing President Essebsi’s son to the Founding Assembly with retroactive effect, deeming it the quickest decision ever taken by the party since its creation on 16 June, 2012.

Kssila warned that the party’s bloc may vote for the government saying: “As far as we are concerned, it will be impossible for us to vote for the government unless issues that are crucial for the party are addressed, the party is placed in safe hands and the leadership race is open to all those who are competent to lead.”

He added: “We want our party to have its own institutions and not to be managed from within the Carthage Palace. And I do not mean by this President Essebsi, whom I hope will intervene, because there are certain things that may cause the party to implode.”

New Dictatorship

Party leader Khalid Shaukat continued to criticise the decision by Nidaa Tounes to appoint the interior minister in the 2011 Essebsi government, Habib Essid, as prime minister. He expressed outrage that the party is treating the Tunisians as if their memory is perforated. This is in reference to the promises Nidaa Tounes made during the elections with regards to forming the government.

In an interview last Wednesday with Shams Radio FM, Shaukat said that he was criticised by some Nidaa Tounes supporters following his reservations regarding the choice of Essid. He claimed they said: “Your statement may anger Essebsi.”

He added: “Nidaa Tounes should be a real democratic party… and not lay the foundation for a new dictatorship.” He expressed anxiety that the country seemed to be returning to the era of “his excellency does not want”, “his excellency does not desire” or “his excellency demands”, in reference to the regime of deposed President Ben Ali.

Translated Arabi21, from 10 January, 2015

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.