Tunis – Nabil Zaghdoud
unisian politician Mondher Thabet Tunis – Nabil Zaghdoud Tunisian politician Mondher Thabet has said that the situation in Tunisia is open to "all possibilities, both optimistic and pessimistic”. He said the country's ruling Islamist party Ennahda would not remain on the rise forever, and would eventually face a rapid fall from the top of the power-pyramid. In an interview with Arabstoday, Thabet, the former head of the Liberal Social Party, one of the most loyal parties to the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali said: “The skill and experience of the Islamist movement in the Arab world is not more than that of the opposition to the ruling regime and the popular leader of the street...especially those who have been marginalised and deprived of economic gains." In Thabet's study, entitled “Hundred Days of Ennahda’s Rulie...One Step Forward..Two Backward”, of which Arabstoday possesses a full copy, he refers to several observations and analyses that criticise the political Islamic current and expect its rapid downfall. He attributed his expectations to a number of signs, including Ennahda's supposed confused and incoherent management of its public image during consultations on the government formation. He also alleged that the ruling party was reluctant to exercise power during the critical transitional phase. Thabet explained that lack of experience in managing state affairs did not only include Ennahda, but all elements of the ruling triumvirate. He cited Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki’s interview with the BBC on February 28 where he said that “ministers are in a learning phase, and it does not make sense to reduce the time they need to gain experience to just one year”. Thabet also said that almost all the parties involved in the election campaign of the National Constituent Assembly presented programmes that did not match the current transitional period. He added: “The real test facing the current government is the re-spinning of the wheel of economy, and securing a suitable atmosphere for investment.” He mentioned in the study that after a hundred days of taking power, Hamadi Jebali's government was still counting on gaining broader sectors of the public through pressuring the inflation rate, in addition to "winning the battle of social calm" in order to achieve progress in foreign investment, which has retreated by 30 percent. The study explained that as Ennahda was keen to achieve success during the transitional period, it also avoided turning to violent practices that may count against it and give it the reputation of an autocracy. The study criticised the authority’s continued concealment of the source of riots and disturbances, an approach reminiscent of the government of Baji Kaid Al-Sbsa. "It's a flagrant breach of the principles of fairness and transparency,” said Thabet.