Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali (Left) and President Moncef Marzouki (Right) sit at the National Dialogue Congress (Photo credit: Rabii Kalboussi)

On October 16, 50 political parties and various other civil society organizations took part in the National Dialogue Congress (NDC ), organized by the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT). The goal was to reach a broad consensus among all parties over the next steps to take for the transitional period that the country is going through.

President Moncef Marzouki, Head of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) Mustapha Ben Jaafar, and Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali all attended the NDC.

Houcine Abbassi, secretary general of the UGTT, gave the opening speech in which he stressed the importance of dialogue during what he described as a critical phase in Tunisia’s post-dictatorship period. Abbassi asserted that maintaining the civic character of the state and its republican system, protecting human rights, and condemning any form of violence are priorities in such a national discussion.

“The idea of initiating a dialogue is already a positive step that we’re taking to deal with the political crisis that the country is going through. We commend the UGTT’s initiative. It could eventually be a solution to this political crisis we’re in,” declared Mahmoud Baroudi, a NCA member from the Democratic Bloc.

Baroudi criticized the absence of Ennahdha and Congress for the Republic (CPR) party members from the NCD and considered it to be a form of political hypocrisy.

“What is going on is not understandable. The Prime Minister, who is from Ennahdha, is present while Ennahdha members decided to boycott the NDC and the same goes for the President [and his party],” he said.

Ennahdha’s executive bureau issued a statement on October 15 in which it highlighted the importance of a national dialogue and consensus building. It also praised the UGTT’s initiative and explained that the NDC boycott is due to the participation of parties that it sees as questioning the legitimacy of democratically-elected institutions and calling for their fall. 

According to Taieb Baccouche, secretary general of Nidaa Tounes, the absence of Ennahda and CPR members is a deplorable political mistake. He went on to state that the two parties’ members should have attended if they really believed in the concept of dialogue among all Tunisians.

Belgacem Ayari, co-secretary general of the UGTT and the NCD’s spokesman, also commented on the absence of members of

Co-Secretary General of the UGTT Belgacem Ayari

Ennahdha and CPR. Ayari claimed that the CPR had originally agreed to participate, but then its members changed their minds at the last moment. According to Ayari, Ennahdha members expressed their reservation concerning the participation of Nidaa Tounes.

“We have to take no one’s side in such matters because it doesn’t make sense to organize a national dialogue congress by excluding a party, so another will participate,” retirated Ayari.

Ayari continued to state that the NCD approved of some aspects in the Troïka’s announcement on Sunday in which the ruling coalition of Ennahdha, CPR, and Ettakatol suggested that elections should be held on June 23. In the same public statement, the Troïka opted for a semi-presidential system in which the prime minister and the president, who is popularly elected, have equal powers in the administration of the state.

“We have hoped in the spirit of national dialogue that the Troïka would present today their initiative so we could all discuss it. It is not going to be our main reference, but we’ll take it into consideration when drafting the statement of this congress,” affirmed Ayari.

Baccouche considered that the Troika’s initiative is not set in stone but merely a statement that sets a possible date and political system for the next elections. “We have been hearing different dates announced by the government all through this year, so setting a new date now does not really mean anything. It’s more of a suggestion, and I don’t think that it should be taken into consideration,” said Baccouche.

The NCD’s main focus will be reaching a consensus on type of political system to adopt, the date of the elections, the independent Committee that will organize it, and the election law that will regulate it.

A couple of former employees that worked for the independent organizational committee of last year’s elections were protesting outside the convention center hall, asking for their expertise to be taken into account during the NDC’s discussions.

“There has yet to be an independent committee to organize the upcoming elections, composed of young people with a university-level degree like last time. This is not for money; all people recruited were volunteers. We have contacted the government and the National Constituent Assembly to include us in the preparations for the upcoming elections, but they just ignored us,” declared Khawla Rezgui, one of the protesters.