Basheer NafiIntroduction:
On May 20–22, 2016, the “Islamist” Nahda Party of Tunisia held its Tenth General Conference. This is the party’s second conference since the triumph of the Tunisian revolution of December 2010 and the removal of Ben Ali’s regime in January 2011. The previous conference was held in July 2012, eight months after the elections of October 2011 in which the Nahda Party emerged as the biggest party in the national assembly and came to lead the first elected coalition government of the post-Ben Ali era.[1]
In 2012, Nahda leaders recognized that both the country and the party had entered a new phase of their history, and that fundamental issues underlying Nahda’s structure and vision would have to be reconsidered. But the nature of the post-revolution transitional period and the contingencies of the political situation in the country forced Nahda to postpone resolving these issues to a later conference. The Tenth Conference, therefore, was meant to be a major turning point in the turbulent history of Nahda.
Following a series of regional meetings and preparatory seminars in the run-up to the conference, Nahda issued a document outlining the main themes around which the conference would revolve. Among other things, the document spoke of three pillars for the party’s new vision: 1- The nationalist values of the Tunisian republic, as stated in the (new, post-revolution) constitution; 2- An Islamic framework; and 3- The value of human achievement.[2]
Over the weeks leading up to the Tenth Conference, Nahda’s leaders and senior cadres gave a preview of the political and ideological shifts expected to be adopted at the conference in a series of press interviews and comments. They pointed to the necessity of Nahda moving away from its legacy as a protest movement and preparing itself for a new role leading the state and formulating a “state-thought” model; of the specialization of Nahda as a civilian political party; of the Tunisian state and its preservation as one of the highest goals of the new Nahda; and of severing all ties, real or imagined, that linked the Nahda with the “international” Muslim Brotherhood movement.[3]
Since it was founded by a group of Islamic intellectuals and activists in the early 1970s, and particularly since it publicly announced its existence in 1981, Nahda was always seen as a party of political Islam associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. From its inception, Nahda played a significant role in the opposition to Burgaiba’s increasingly authoritarian and radically secular rule, and to the dictatorial regime of Ben Ali. An early voice for democracy within the mainstream Arab–Islamic political movement, Nahda was influential within the Muslim Brotherhood fold in the mid-1990s, advancing a democracy and multi-party system model, as well as affirming women’s rights in society. Hence, predictions about fundamental changes in Nahda’s outlook and its Islamist connections have attracted significant attention within both Islamist and non-Islamist circles in the Arab world and beyond.[4]
At the conclusion of the Tenth Conference, the Nahda party released its long-awaited conference manifesto. Although partially written in general and ambiguous language, the implications of the conference final statement were in agreement with earlier hints made by Nahda spokespersons. The statement declared that “This historic conference clearly affirms…that the Nahda party has practically overcome all causes that have made some see it as part of what is called ‘political Islam’, and that this common label does not bear out the reality of its present identity, and nor does it reflect the substance of the future project that it will carry out.” [5]
In an expression of the tension surrounding Nahda’s search for a new vision, the statement used several terms to describe its identity: as part of the Muslim democrats; a nationalist party, and as a democratic party with an Islamic referential framework. The statement, however, spoke in clear terms of Nahda’s specialization as a political party that was no longer concerned with Islamic preaching, describing the religious as a sphere of its own which should be liberated from the political.
Although not yet definitive, Nahda’s apparent new position may be summarized as follows: 1) Nahda does no longer see itself as an Islamic political party, but rather as a civilian and democratic one generally inspired by Islamic values; 2) Nahda is a Tunisian nationalist party that is connected neither with the Muslim Brotherhood nor any other supranational political umbrella; and 3) As such, Nahda will focus its efforts in the political sphere. The religious sphere, with which many other Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have been involved, should be the responsibility of specialist bodies, in particular the official Department of Islamic Affairs, and should be entirely free from political influences.
Nahda’s new position and self-identification has engendered all kinds of reactions. While some Tunisian and Arab circles have welcomed the new shift in Nahda’s outlook, others have questioned its sincerity and described its new position as merely tactical. The former transitional president of the Tunisian republic, Dr al-Muncef al-Marzuqi, himself a well-known opponent of despotism and authoritarianism in Tunisia and the Arab world, published commentary op-ed piece in which he expressed the view of perhaps many Arab and non–Arab observers. Recalling the demise of the Arab nationalist movement over the past few years, al-Marzouqi wrote that the decline of political Islam was also imminent.[6]
What exactly is this ‘political Islam’, and how is it changing as a movement? Are historical Islamic forces such as the Muslim Brotherhood reaching the end of the road? And does Nahda’s shift in outlook reflect a sort of intellectual and political maturity or a more profound and broader crisis of politics in Tunisia and the Arab world at large?