Ennahda’s change of heart on presidential elections
The Ennahda movement surprised many by putting forward a candidate, Abdel Fattah Mourou, for the presidential elections slated for September.
TUNIS, Tunisia — The addition of Ennahda President Rachid Ghannouchi to the Tunis 1 candidate list for the Oct. 6 parliamentary elections and the nomination of Ennahda Vice President Abdel Fattah Mourou to contest the Sept. 15 presidential elections represent a shift in political strategy for Tunisia's moderate Islamist movement. Both decisions were controversial within the movement, though ostensibly aimed at generating unity.
Ninety-eight of the 102 Ennahda Shura Council members approved nominating Mourou, who is also acting speaker of the People's Assembly, and he registered his candidacy Aug. 9. Four members abstained from the Aug. 7 vote. Ghannounchi's surprise candidacy, announced in late July, followed an extraordinary meeting of the party's Executive Council and sparked dissent by apparently stepping on the toes of Ennahda's Shura Council, which according to party rules holds the authority to nominate candidates.
