Tunisia's former prime minister and Ennahda
Secretary-General Hamadi Jebali said on his Facebook page Thursday that he was
stepping down from the Islamist party, citing disagreement with the party’s
policies.
Jebali said that he had joined the movement in the early
1970s in the name of "freedom and justice" against "tyranny and
corruption."
He spent many years in prison under the regime of Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in the 2011 revolution that launched the Arab
Spring.
Jebali said Tunisia now faced "huge challenges,"
in particular the threat of a return to "tyranny and corruption."
"I chose to be among those activists eager to ensure
the peaceful revolution triumphed ... I have great difficulty in remaining
faithful to this position given the state of Ennahda today. I find myself no
longer agreeing with its choices," he said.
In general elections in October, Ennahda was beaten by the
Nidaa Tounes party and has decided not to field a candidate in the presidential
election, whose second round is set for Dec. 21.
However, the party has not ruled out collaborating with
Nidaa Tounes, despite that party's virulent anti-Islamist stance and the
presence in its ranks of former Ben Ali regime officials.
Ennahda's position has been hard to swallow for some members
of the party which was ruthlessly repressed under Ben Ali.
Jebali became prime minister in December 2011 after the
country's first free elections that were won by Ennahda. He quit during the
political crisis that followed the murder of prominent leftwing opposition
leader Chokri Belaid in February 2013.
- AFP
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