EXCLUSIVE: Ghannouchi threatens Italy with migrants from Tunisia, but he’s just bluffing
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Alaina
- . July 30, 2021
- . Update: July 30, 2021 7:31 pm
Rachid Ghannouchi, the Tunisian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood and head of Parliament, gave a lengthy interview to Corriere Della Sera. Ghannouchi plays the victim. A few days after his appeal to protest against President Kais Saied’s decisions went unheeded, he tries to convince international public opinion, European governments, and in particular Italy, to save him from the sure pillory of the Tunisian people.
The Islamist Ghannouchi, on whom several dossiers could emerge very soon before the Tunisian judiciary for the role he played in the destruction of the young Republic, speaks of democracy at risk and above all of the dangers linked to immigration that Italy will run. The Italian researcher Giovanni Giacalone, expert on terrorism at the Catholic University, holder of a master’s degree in Islamic studies from Trinity Saint David, told The Arab Posts that “those of Ghannnouchi seem like threats similar to those made in the past by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is a well-established strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood area: either you support us, or we pour fleets of irregular immigrants to you “.
Giacalone points out how this approach was used by Erdogan and today by Ghannouchi, in serious difficulty as the Muslim Brotherhood in general, both in Europe and in the Middle East. “The leader of Ennhadha is doing what Erdogan does; if you do not support us, we will send you the boats, on which, among the migrants, terrorists could hide.” So, the Italian expert on Islamism says, commenting on the Islamic leader’s interview with the Italian press.
However, Ghannouchi provocation appears unfounded, considering that all security agencies including the army and the Tunisian Coast Guard are not under Ghannouchi’s control. And even more so because Kais Saied’s move is supported by the majority of Tunisians, who see the President of the Republic as their last chance to avoid Tunisia’s bankruptcy.
Giacalone also makes another note on Ennahdha. “I am always thrilled when I read in the press, a moderate party linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. It is a huge contradiction. How can a party be moderate, and at the same time, linked to a radical Islamist organization?”. He asks our microphones, suggesting that “it is enough to read the founding fathers’ writings and this organization’ charter, as well as what they have done, to understand that.”
On July 25, on the anniversary of the founding of the Republic, thousands of Tunisians took to the streets. They stormed the headquarters of the party led by Rashid Ghannouchi. The Tunisian people demonstrated, often clashing with the police to demand the arrest of the Islamists and the dissolution of Parliament. In the evening, after hours of protests, President of the Republic Kais Saied froze the work of the National Assembly and dissolved the Government of Hicham Mechichi. Saied also vowed to prosecute officers accused of corruption and misconduct, taking responsibility for leading the country out of a political stalemate. Kais Saied, professor of law and guarantor of the Constitution, was elected in 2019 with 72% of the votes.
