Tunisia President launches attack on Ennhada

"What complicates the situation is the growing feeling that our Ennahda brothers are working to control the administrative and political operations of the state," Marzouki said in the letter, which was read out by one of his advisers.
 
"This behaviour reminds us of the bygone era" of ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali," he added, condemning "the appointment of supporters (of the Ennahda party to key posts) whether or not they are qualified."
 
Reacting to the president's charges, several top government officials belonging to the Islamist party walked out of the conference, including Human Rights Minister Samir Dilou and Interior Minister Ali Larayedh, according to an AFP reporter.
 
Marzouki belongs to the Congress for the Republic (CPR), a secular, centre-left party that partners Ennahda in the ruling three-party coalition, along with Ettakatol, also on the centre-left.

The moderate Islamist party dominates the alliance, after winning the largest share of votes in legislative elections last October, with the premiership going to Ennahda's Hamadi Jebali.
 
Many civil society and opposition activists have criticised the president, a veteran human rights activist and dissident under Ben Ali, for not resisting the Islamist party's increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
 
In particular, Ennahda has been denounced for appointing its supporters to prominent positions in the public media and for drafting a law that would jail for up to two years anyone convicted of attacking sacred values.

President Marzouki came into direct confrontation with Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali ove rthe  extradion of former Libyan prime minister Al  Bahgdadi al-Mahmoudi, which he said he was not been consulted  as President. There have been increasing accusations that Ennhada is replacing officials with its men to ensure greater control. Two ministers have resigned. There has been an outcry about a term in the draft constitution describing women as "complimentary  " to men whereas they insist they are equal. Ennhada's continual failure to deal with violent salfasists and protect the rights of secular citizens has also caused a crisis of confidence in secular society.

In this respect President Marzouki has erred on the side of  appeasement saying that  there is no real Salafist problem which has lost him a great deal of support. The truth is that Ennhada still has a dominant position in the  Constituent Assembly.

However the situation is being destabalised by a growing perception that the committee charged with drawing up the consitution is incompetent and has made several  errors in drafting the constitution and the fact that it will not now be ready until February at the earliest instead of October as promised by Hamadi Jebali has caused a scandal. Whether the coalition government can hold together until then is a serious question.. Those drafting the consitution need to decide whether Tunisia is to be a secular state as promised  or a state based on religion. For many the issue is far from clear. 

There is also the question of whether Tunisia should have a parliamentary system with power vested in the Prime Minister, the solution favoured by Ennhada, or  a system which retains some powers for the Presidency.

The Tunisian revolution may have reached a cross roads.