Ali Laarayedh

Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Ali Laarayedh is one of the most well-known leaders of Ennahda. He occupied the position of Minister of Interior in the government of former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali. On February 22, 2013, Laarayedh become prime minister, replacing Jebali, who resigned after his initiative to form a technocratic government failed to garner political support.

Ali Laarayedh was born in 1955 in Medenine. He was Ennahda’s spokesperson from 1981 until his arrest in 1990. He is known for having survived long-lasting torture and continual prosecution during more than three decades; many leaders of Ennahda died in prison during Ben Ali’s rule.

Laarayedh’s troubles started in 1981, when Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia’s first president, was still in power. He was then regularly harassed by the police and governmental authorities for his affiliation to the-then banned Islamist party. On December 23^rd, 1990, after Ben Ali seized power from his predecessor in a bloodless coup d’état, Ali Laarayedh was sentenced to 15 years in prison and was subject to torture. According to Ban Public, a Paris-based NGO that reports on prisons and incarceration conditions, Laarayedh and his family were detained by the police on several occasions and received death threats. Laarayedh was threatened on several occasions by transfusion of toxic substances and HIV-contaminated plasma. Moreover, according to the International Federation of Human Rights’ 1999 annual report, Laarayedh’s wife, Wided Lagha, was sexually abused by officials of the ministry of interior. The report  mentions that she was videotaped naked, which caused her later to suffer from depression. Laarayedh was jailed in the 9 Avril prison where he was completely isolated. Laarayedh’s tight surveillance continued until the early days of 2011.

After 14 January 2011, Ali Laarayedh rejoined Ennahda party, which was permitted a licence in March 2011. Laarayedh has sought to contribute to enhancing the party’s image, promoting its moderate and compliant values suitable to fit the Tunisian society. Indeed, members’ years in prison have helped “enlarge our views to encompass Western values,” he said. In an interview given to The New York Times in early January 2011, he insisted that his party poses no threat to Tunisians or to tourists sipping French wine in their bikinis along the Mediterranean beaches.