Rashed Ghannouchi, head of the Islamic Ennahda Movement, openly addressed several sensitive issues including the niqab, homosexuality and the government’s performance in this exclusive interview.
Rashed Ghannouchi, your latest positions have provoked great controversy, particularly your opposition to criminalizing homosexuality, which is forbidden in Islam. Do you still adopt this position?
Rashed Ghannouchi, head of the Islamic Ennahda Movement, openly addressed several sensitive issues including the niqab, homosexuality and the government’s performance in this exclusive interview.
Rashed Ghannouchi, your latest positions have provoked great controversy, particularly your opposition to criminalizing homosexuality, which is forbidden in Islam. Do you still adopt this position?
I have already said Islam, like other religions, forbids homosexuality and only recognizes contractual marriage between men and women. Marriage is the only acknowledged sexual relationship in all religions as well as laws of nature.
Does this mean that you oppose homosexual marriage?
Of course I do. I said Islam respects the private lives of people and does not spy on them or judge what is in their hearts. As for marriage, I believe that only marriage between men and women leads to building a family.
Sorry for interrupting you, but the issue here is not about invading the private lives of people. It is about criminalizing homosexuality, which you do not oppose.
I said we should respect the privacy of people’s lives. I do not deny the existence of homosexuality in Tunisia. However, I am against criminalizing it and against spying on homosexuals.
Banning the niqab is still provoking controversy amongst a part of Tunisian society. What is your opinion on this issue?
I support the Iftaa Department, which says wearing the niqab is not a religious duty and women who do not wear it are not sinners.
Wearing the niqab or abandoning the hijab are personal freedoms. It is not the state’s role to impose or ban such practices because that would be an intervention in people’s personal lives and that is not acceptable at all.
The regime of the late President Habib Boureguiba was not that different from the occupation state, which undermined the people’s freedom. Other Islamic states have intervened in the opposite direction and imposed certain costumes and limited the people’s clothing options.
We are against both. We reject imposing or banning niqabs and hijabs.
Security forces may uncover women’s faces when there are urgent security needs. However, this does not mean that the government should impose a ban on wearing the niqab or hijab.
Personally, I do not prefer the wearing of the niqab and I do not promote it, as I believe that it is not a religious duty and is not useful.
How did Ennahda Movement survive as an Islamic party after the elimination of political Islam in the Arab region, and how did it manage to participate in power after a ruling experience deemed by some as unsuccessful?
The democratic transition in Tunisia has yielded huge successes by adopting conformity rather than competition and conflict. Ennahda Movement was one of the first parties to adopt conformity, unlike the other Arab revolutions, which struggled due to their disagreements.
A policy of conformity would not have succeeded without the participation of the other Tunisian political forces, which willingly sought harmony after they saw the danger of conflict.
I believe that my meeting with Sayed Bagi Qayed Sabsi in the summer of 2013 in Paris was an inauguration of conformity that would eliminate conflict and combat.
Ennahda Movement has only one ministry in a ruling coalition, which is expected to explode soon due to the absence of an effective work program. Why did Ennahda Movement accept a secondary role and give up leading the opposition?
The ruling coalition is not expected to explode and the political situation in Tunisia is stable. Although there is some disturbance, as is the case in most of the world’s democracies, the disorder can be removed through dialogue; which, has already led to social harmony between the government and the Workers Association and the Industry and Commerce Association. Recently, an important agreement between the government and the General Tunisian Workers Association about pay raises was concluded.
We are now living in a democratic country in which all issues are solved through dialogue and agreement rather than by resorting to security forces to crush protests.
Today, there is no such social explosion that may undermine the political stability in the country as the ruling coalition is continuing its work. Recently, the four ruling parties, which account for 70% of the votes, have established a coalition, which holds regular meetings to support the government’s efforts.
Then why did Ennahda Movement accept a secondary role and give up leading the opposition?
The latest parliamentary election has moved Ennahda Movement from Tunisia’s first party to the second. We accepted the results and congratulated the voters and consequently the winning party formed the government.
We could have led the opposition as we have a long tradition in it. However, we believe that the democratic transition in Tunisia requires harmony rather than defiance especially since the situation is still fragile and does not bear an opposition of our caliber. Therefore, we accepted to join the government after we were offered one ministry and four governmental departments because we are keen on conformity.
It was said Ennahda Movement accepted a tiny share of power not because it cherishes agreement but to avoid accountability for its years in power and to be near the ruling circle to avoid any condemnation. How do you respond to that?
That is total nonsense because Ennahda Movement’s rule was based on the law, which is enforced on all people whether they are in power or not. Those in power and the opposition are all within the reach of law. Moreover, Ennahda Movement has nothing to fear or hide. We only fear that the democratic transition might stumble like what happened in other countries. Our sole concern is that the democratic transition succeeds.
The current government led by Habib Said came under widespread criticism due to its poor performance and failure to meet expectations. Does Ennahda Movement consider withdrawing confidence or at least pushing towards a cabinet reshuffle?
The factions who criticize the current government and describe it as a failure are the same ones who demanded that the troika government was brought down even before winning the parliament’s confidence.
Today, the same factions demand that the current government is brought down because, they say, it failed even though it has not yet completed 1oo days in power.
Does this mean that Ennahda Movement still supports the government?
Definitely. Said’s government has our full support and confidence and the rest of the parties in the ruling coalition also support it.
What would Ennahda Movement’s position be if a cabinet reshuffle to bring in new ministers was suggested?
We do not prefer it. We may question some ministers but we are against withdrawing confidence from the government, as the country needs stability.
What is your evaluation of Said’s government and do you think it is on the right track?
We are confident that Said’s government is on the right track and that it can improve the situation.
Do you think that Ennahda Movement has learned a lesson from the internal crisis in Nidaa Tunis Movement, which won the previous elections?
We believe that the existence of strong and solid parties benefit the country and that any crises in Tunisia’s major parties are not good for the country.
However, some people in Nidaa Tunis accused you of feeding the internal conflict in their party. How do you respond?
These accusations are groundless. We do not interfere in others’ affairs.
What is your evaluation of the performance of President Beji Caid Sebsi?
I believe that his performance is satisfactory. He rectified some mistakes in our external politics such as the former government’s mistake in the Libyan file when it preferred one side over the other. Sebsi rectified the situation and recognized the two governments and dealt with them equally.
What will happen in Ennahda Movement’s next conference? Is it right that the movement’s name will be changed and its political activity will be separated from the religious one?
Yes, these things are probable. However, the conference will decide that in the end.
Do you think that the Muslim Brotherhood’s feeling that it is oppressed may lead it to ally with terrorist groups to topple the military’s rule?
Yes, this may happen in the future as oppression could lead the Muslim Brotherhood to extremism and to ally with ISIS. However, until now, the Muslim Brotherhood is not involved in violence and it condemned all terrorist acts that took place in Sinai. However, the Egyptian regime seems keen on involving the Muslim Brotherhood in violence, to use it as an excuse to exterminate it and impose a police state.
Some say ISIS is the deformed embryo of Islamic groups. Do you believe that this group, which spread in the Arab region, has any future?
I am sure that ISIS has no future and that there is no future for violence and terrorism. Terrorism is a disease and ISIS is just an advanced type of it. When its causes are known, it will be eradicated easily.
What are its causes?
Dictatorship, occupation and corruption. Once these factors are eliminated, ISIS and its associates will be abolished.
