Tunisia's ruling Islamist Ennahda party's
leader Rached Ghannouchi (right) signs documents during a meeting as
part of the dialogue between Tunisia's ruling Islamists and the
opposition aimed at ending a two-month crisis on October 5, 2013 at the
Palais des Congres in Tunis. AFP
The Islamist Ennahda party and opposition
groups in the country that gave birth to the Arab Spring signed a
roadmap aimed at creating a new government within three weeks.
Saturday's deal, signed in the presence of
politicians and media, was brokered to end a simmering two-month crisis
sparked by the assassination in July of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi.
The document, drawn up by four mediators,
foresees the nomination of an independent prime minister by the end of
next week, who would then have two weeks to form a cabinet.
It says that after the first day of national dialogue, "the government will resign with a delay not exceeding three weeks".
One of the leaders of Ennahda, Abdelhamid
Jlassi, told news age
ncy AFP the national dialogue proper is not expected to start on Monday, however.
ncy AFP the national dialogue proper is not expected to start on Monday, however.
"First there will be preparatory meetings, and
the date of the government's resignation will not be determined until
the start of the real national dialogue," he said.
"Ennahda's signature today is a major concession made in the interests of the country," he added.
Saturday's ceremony got under way after a delay of several hours that underscored the mutual distrust between the rival camps.
"I want to thank you for joining this dialogue
because you are opening the door of hope for Tunisians," said Houcine
Abassi, whose UGTT trade union confederation was the lead mediator
behind the roadmap.
Delegates at the Palais des Congres said the
launch of the hard-won dialogue with a symbolic ceremony had earlier
been jeopardised by a last-minute dispute.
The UGTT said Ennahda had initially refused to formally sign the text that underlines the timetable of the national dialogue.
'Blackmail'
It was not immediately clear how it was
resolved, but Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi on Twitter blamed the
almost four-hour delay on "last-minute blackmail" by the opposition.
Ennahda eventually signed the agreement, but
its secular ally, the Congress for the Republic party of President
Moncef Marzouki, refused to do so.
By signing the roadmap, the Ennahda-led
coalition, which has been rocked by the murder of two political
opponents, economic woes and prolonged political disputes, has agreed to
step down two years after winning a general election.
Its victory at the polls on October 23, 2011,
was the first free vote in Tunisian history, and followed the overthrow
of long-ruling strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the first revolt of
the Arab Spring.
Saturday's roadmap also foresees, within the
next four weeks and after a national dialogue across the political
spectrum, the adoption of a constitution and a timetable for elections.
The ceremony was attended by Marzouki, Prime
Minister Ali Larayedh and parliament speaker Mustafa Ben Jaafar, as well
as party leaders.
"We will not disappoint the Tunisian people nor the dialogue itself," Larayedh told the gathering.
'Answer for'
Ben Jaafar, a secular ally of the Islamists, said in a speech that "failure would be a sin we would have to answer for."
Earlier this week, Ennahda and the secular
opposition agreed on a blueprint for talks, drafted by the UGTT, the
employers' organisation Utica, the bar association and the Tunisian
League for Human Rights.
Political activity had ground to a halt since
Brahmi's murder, holding up the formation of stable state institutions
more than two and half years after the 2011 uprising.
A member of Ettakatol, a centre-left party
allied with Ennahda, accused the opposition of imposing last-minute
conditions, but declined to elaborate.
"There is a real problem of trust," Mouldi Riahi told AFP before the dialogue finally opened.
Ennahda has been accused of mismanaging the
economy and failing to rein in Islamic extremists, who are blamed for
murdering Brahmi and Chokri Belaid, another prominent secular politician
killed six months earlier.
'No romance'
Analysts had voiced cautious optimism ahead of the dialogue.
"The roadmap is a platform but its application
word for word is less probable because of the lack of trust between the
two sides," said Slaheddine Jourchi.
Fellow analyst Sami Brahem echoed him, saying
"the problem is a moral one, lack of trust between the ruling coalition
and the opposition."
On Friday, a newspaper took a sceptical swipe at the country's politicians.
"Tunisians are hanging on the words of
political actors, protagonists in a national dialogue... Will this
dialogue lead to a saving solution?" asked francophone daily Le
Quotidien.
"It's like watching a Mexican soap opera, but without the romance." (AFP)
Tunisia
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
