Despite the success of ratifying a new Constitution and the formation of a technocrat non-partisan government, Tunisia’s ‘Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution’ remain an obstacle to completing the national dialogue process and the preparation of fair and transparent elections.

The road map stressed the importance of dissolving these leagues; secular and liberal parties as well as human rights organizations have long accused these leagues of involvement in acts of violence against opponents of the Islamic Ennahda party.

Despite the success of ratifying a new Constitution and the formation of a technocrat non-partisan government, Tunisia’s ‘Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution’ remain an obstacle to completing the national dialogue process and the preparation of fair and transparent elections.

The road map stressed the importance of dissolving these leagues; secular and liberal parties as well as human rights organizations have long accused these leagues of involvement in acts of violence against opponents of the Islamic Ennahda party.

Meanwhile, some parties have started to exert pressure on Mehdi Juma, the new prime minister, to meet the road map’s obligations and to accelerate the dissolution of these leagues. 

Issam Chebbi, the spokesman for the Republican Party, a centrist party, believes that the leagues pose a threat to the democratic transition process if they are not dissolved as soon as possible. “It seems that there are signs of hesitation in dealing with political violence in Tunisia,” he said. “The Republican Party will remain vigilant and careful until the decision for dissolving the leagues is taken in order to avoid any negative impact on the democratic transition process.”

Lezhar Lakrami, a leading member of the Nidaa Tounes Movement, said that the electoral environment would be “profane and almost impossible with the presence of these leagues,” which he claimed were responsible for political violence and murder. 

How the leagues got started

The leagues were formed under many names such as the “popular committees” and the “revolutions’ youth”.  They gathered young people from different political and civil spectrums and in the beginning, were entrusted with the protection of neighborhoods and the different facilities of the country during the period of lawlessness following the January 14, 2011 revolution.

With the security and political situation in the country becoming more stable, the leagues have started to work under the legal framework of the associations law.  Most of the youth and political streams withdrew from these associations and they became dominated by Islamic streams. 

The leagues, since the day of their creation, were accused of violent acts in the country.  Some parties and organizations described them saying that they are the “militias of the Ennahda Movement and its military wing.”

The controversy grew more heated after a demonstration organized by the League for the Protection of the Revolution in Tataouine, on October 12, 2012 to demand what it described as “cleansing and accountability.”  The march ended in clashes which resulted in the death of Lotfi Naguedh, the Coordinator of Nidaa Tounes Movement.  The protests intensified and protestors started calling for the dissolution of these leagues. 

We are not obliged to follow the roadmap

In response to calls for dissolving the leagues, Mounir Ajroudi, President of the National League for the Protection of the Revolution, said that these leagues were established according to the Associations’ Law. “The league is an organization with a national dimension and it has emerged from the womb of the revolution.  Its role is to preserve the gains of the revolution.”  He also stressed that “the leagues will not yield to the dissolution calls,” adding that “the road map signed by Mehdi Juma is not binding for us.” 

Ajroudi threatened to take “necessary measures“ should the leagues be dissolved “We will seek the help of international organizations and we will file a lawsuit against Mehdi Juma’s government if it implements the leagues’ dissolution decision.” 

In response to the accusations against the leagues of creating violence in the country, he said “We do not follow any party. We are not part of the Ennahda Movement’s military wing. We are only seeking to achieve the goals of the revolution and to fight corruption.”

In the midst of this debate on the dissolution of the  leagues, the Tunisian Labor Organization issued a statement two weeks ago expressing its position against the dissolution of the leagues. “This will instill the principles of exclusion and marginalization which will become the cause for strife among Tunisians.”

The Tunisian Labor Organization is known for its close relations to the Ennahda Movement.  It is a trade union that has was recently created (August 2013) after the outbreak of the crisis between the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), the oldest trade union organization in Tunisia, and the Ennahda movement, as a result of UGTT’s call for a general strike .

There should be a legal solution  

Salah al-Din Jourchi, a political analyst, said: “The most important aspect in this issue is not about dissolving the leagues or not dissolving them. The prime minister needs to immediately find solutions to two main considerations. First, the leagues’ issue is one of the most important files on the new government’s table, and second, because there is a strong insistence by the various political parties on the need to be decisive in this matter.

Jourchi said the government needed to deal with all groups threatening public security in the country in order not to enter into a cycle of violence. 

The union has not changed its position  

Sami Tahiri, UGTT’s Assistant Secretary-General agreed that the first job of the current government is to dissolve the leagues. “Mehdi Juma, the current prime minister, approved all the road map’s articles and conditions reached during the national dialogue. There is no room to back down now.” 

“The role of the state is to protect the revolution, therefore there is no need for leagues to protect the revolution,” said Hussain Abbasi, the Secretary General of the General Union of Tunisian Workers, which speared the national dialogue.  “These leagues are military arms serving partisan agendas.”