The political scene in Tunisia is likely to experience some profound changes in the coming period, which will shake up  the party map that marked the country during the legislative and presidential elections in 2014. Tunisians will find themselves facing new options in the first electoral period, which is during the municipal elections scheduled for October 30, 2016, unless any unexpected developments lead to rescheduling the target date.

The political scene in Tunisia is likely to experience some profound changes in the coming period, which will shake up  the party map that marked the country during the legislative and presidential elections in 2014. Tunisians will find themselves facing new options in the first electoral period, which is during the municipal elections scheduled for October 30, 2016, unless any unexpected developments lead to rescheduling the target date.

Five new political projects were launched with the official announcement of former President Moncef Marzouki of his ‘Harak Tounis Al Irada’ (Tunisia Will) Movement followed by Mohsen Marzouk’s party, which is expected to be officially named in March, in addition to Mondher Zenaidi’s project, who served as health minister under Ben Ali and whose new project is expected to be announced at the end of this month.

Former Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa and a number of ministers will be the initiators of the fourth project. The last of these projects is the merger among the Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberties, Democratic Current (Attayar party) and Democratic Alliance into a single party next April.

Tunis of Will Movement (Harak Tounis Al Irada)

At the end of 2015, former President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki announced the establishment of his new party ‘Tunis of Will Movement’ (Harak Tounis Al Irada) in fulfillment of a promise he made before hundreds of his supporters on the day he lost the presidential seat to Beji Caid Essebsi.

The former president’s new party mainly consists of leaders from his former Congress for the Republic party whose national council decided to dissolve the party and merge it into its leader’s new project.

The new party also includes second and third tier leaders from democratic and social parties who resigned from these parties in addition to a number of civil society activists.

According to the new party’s Secretary General Adnen Mansser, the party is still in its early stage of forming its regional and local structures in preparation for the municipal elections, the first electoral bet for the party, as Marzouki said on the party’s declaration day.

New ‘Nidaa Tounes’

Mohsen Marzouk, former Secretary General of ‘Nidaa Tounes’ – the party of Tunisia’s current president Beji Caid Essebsi – appealed to the party to form a new one. Large efforts were made to convene regional and consulting meetings with the groups that broke away from ‘Nidaa Tounes’ party.

On March 2, the party’s name and ideology will be announced and  they are expected to be centered on neo-Bourguibism after Tunisia’s first president Habib Bourguiba. The Bourguiba beliefs will be modernized to fit contemporary trends and be integrated into universal rights.

The new Bourguiba ideology will be the party reference and will stand contrary to the Islamists’ trends. Marzouk is expected to present his new party as a contrast to the Islamists and Ennahda movement ideology as he previously presented his former Nidaa Tounes party.

The expected launching of the new party on March 2 was deliberately chosen to coincide with the date on which Bourguiba declared the foundation of the new constitutional party at Ksar Helal conference in 1934 after his breakaway from the Constitutional Party. Mohsen Marzouk likens himself and his defection from Nidaa Tounes party to what happened to Bourguiba in the early 1940s.

Marzouk could attract a number of deputies from Nidaa Tounes who broke away with him from the party and the parliamentary bloc and the constituted ‘Free Bloc’ comprised of 26 deputies so far and considered the third parliamentary bloc in terms of size after Ennahda Movement bloc and its mother bloc of ‘Nidaa Tounes’.

Reunion of two parties

The new political project of Ben Ali’s former minister Mondher Zenaidi is based on the reunion between the Socialist Constitutional party founded by Bourguiba and Ben Ali’s Constitutional Democratic Rally party. The new party will be enhanced by social democratic groups consisting of resigned members from parties that embraced the social democratic policy and lost in the last legislative and presidential elections.

The project is headed by Mondher Zenaidi, a former minister under Ben Ali. A number of other parties led by remnants of Ben Ali’s regime are expected to join the new party project.

Despite the strong reservations surrounding the new project comprised of symbols of Ben Ali and his regime, leaks speak about meetings between Mondher Zenaidi and Kemal Mourjan who heads the Initiative Party. However, based on a statement made by the Initiative Party leading figure Mohamed Jegham, the two party leaders have not agreed on anything. On the other hand, he added that there were attempts to reunite the Constitutionals and that the consultations with Zenaidi did not aim at merging his project with the Initiative Party. The new political party of Ben Ali’s Health Minister Mondher Zenaidi is expected to be announced at the end of this month.

Alternative Tunisia

Alternative Tunisia is a new political project of former Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa and a number of his cabinet ministers like Hedi Larbi , Kamel Bennaceur, Taoufik Jelassi, Neila Chaabane, Hafedh Laamouri, Mourad Sakli, Nidhal Ouerfelli and other ministers in addition to a number of qualified national groups including young men and women from different sides. This party is due to be announced in a few weeks.

This project has no sources to speak on its behalf to the media and Mehdi Jomaa’s former ministers refuse to appear and provide details about it.

Merging parties

Three social democratic family parties, which suffered a defeat in the recent legislative and presidential elections namely the Democratic Alliance for Labor and Liberties (Mustapha Ben Jaafar’s Party, former chairman of the Constitutional Council), the Democratic Movement and the Democratic Alliance will announce their merger next April.

The three parties are still negotiating the merger formulas and decision-making mechanisms, but the merger will be decided by national councils of the Democratic Alliance and Democratic Movement considering that the Alliance Party’s National Council has already agreed to the merger, according to party leader Khalil Zaouia. Soon after the two national councils’ meetings and the approval of the merger of these parties into a single party, the three parties will announce the launch of the major party on April 9.