The Ennahdha, leader of the ruling coalition, expressed concern and regret over the postponement of the national dialogue announced Wednesday by Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), Houcine Abassi. This is, in any case, the meaning of the statements made by Zied Laadhari, spokesperson for the Islamist party at a press conference held Thursday, December 5.
Speaking before an audience of journalists, he said that his party is not responsible for the delay, adding that the Ennahdha Party has been committed from the outset to finding a solution to the crisis in the country since the assassination of Mohamed Brahmi last July 25 .
“We thought we were close to national consensus and therefore close to the resumption of the national dialogue. Moreover, our leaders were optimistic in their statements, but nothing has been done,” he said before stating that” the Islamist party has made concessions that were painful for some of its leaders, driven by the concern to place the national interest above all other considerations.”
Several concessions were made from the signing of the roadmap, to a written commitment by Ali Laarayedh regarding the resignation of his government, through the cancellation of the internal regulations of National Constituent Assembly amendments and ending up to opening up onto several names in the choice of the future Prime Minister.
According to Laadhari, these concessions were not taken into consideration by some parties which have not responded positively to these efforts. The spokesman for Ennahdha said that the Quartet sponsoring the dialogue knows this truth, but it has not announced it.
The Popular Front has blocked Dialogue
Directly accusing the Popular Front of blocking the National Dialogue and thereafter the government process, Zied Laahdhari said his movement defended his choice, that of Ahmed Mestiri, but it did not oppose other names, including Jalloul Ayed and this in order to succeed in this very critical step. “We were open to other names. It was believed that this will allow us to reach consensus, but some political forces stuck to their same position.”
In this context, he recalled that his party is ready to welcome all proposals positively, stating, at the same time, that the choice of the new prime minister should be object of the widest possible consensus of all political actors on the basis of specific criteria.
Political forces called to take other steps
Expressing concern to see the process would bear fruit in the shortest possible time, Zied Laadhari called on other political forces to take more steps to ensure the success of the National Dialogue which remains, in his opinion, the only solution to put the country on track and hold the next elections. According to him, “the other political forces must act positively by sending messages of hope to the Tunisian people. Otherwise, the country is likely to be exposed to dangerous deviations.”
Zied Laadhari concluded his speech by saying that Ennahdha does not want this dialogue to continue indefinitely, believing that a positive reaction from the opposition could break the deadlock in the coming days and even in the next hours, as long as it commits to making progress towards the desired consensus.
