Tunisia’s formerly ruling Ennahda movement’s main competitor in the coming parliamentary elections has sought to connect the Islamist party to ultraconservative groups that have posed a threat to the country’s democratic transition. Meanwhile, Ennahda has reduced the visibility of more pious figures associated with the movement and focused on more temporal issues such as security and the economy.

Ennahda attempted to bring in Salafist groups to the political table not long after mass protests ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. The government headed by former Minister Beji Caid el Sebsi had prevented some Salafist parties from being recognized; this was no longer the case after Ennahda headed the government.

Abdelhamid Jlassi, Ennahda’s vice president, told Al-Monitor that incorporating ultraconservative Islamists into political life would take longer than any electoral process and would have to combine security solutions with social programs aimed at youth, poor neighborhoods and marginalized regions. Tunisia has both nonviolent groups that refuse to participate in elections and violent jihadist groups that have attacked the state.

“In 2011 and 2012, Ennahda’s approach was trying to engage the Salafists in some kind of dialogue to try to encourage them to adopt the democratic process,” said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, an advocacy group close to Ennahda. “That changed completely after the attack on the US Embassy,” he told Al-Monitor