Press Release on the 24th Anniversary of the Establishment of an-Nahdha Movement of Tunisia

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

On this occasion, we must remember in our prayers our teachers Sidi Mohamed Saleh Naifer and Sidi abdelkader Slama director of Al-Ma’rifa magazine, and Mr Ali Nouir, members of the founding committee and all other members, particularly members of the first executive bureau, and the tens of martyrs for the movement and the nation, martyrs for freedom and Islam. We also pay tribute to the hundreds of leaders and members of the movement and to freedom heroes in prison. We express our solidarity with them and their steadfast families, and stress that their cause is our greatest concern. We also salute all followers of an-Nahdha movement whose conviction has not been undermined by tests nor have they been weakened by the enormity and duration of the plight, and have remained committed to their mission. We further salute all activists from all trends inside and outside Tunisia, all those striving for a free and dignified Tunisia, and beyond them to all those who supported the people of Tunisia during its struggle for freedom, be they political figures, thinkers, journalists, human rights associations or political groups.

Firstly, I would like to begin by thanking you all, ladies and gentlemen, for attending this press conference, and in particular journalists who carry a noble mission and work towards enlightening public opinion regarding the causes of the world and concerns and plights of humanity.

An-Nahdha Movement is today celebrating the anniversary of its establishment on 6 June 1981. It does so in exile, due to the policies of eradication, imprisonment and persecution which it has suffered and continues to suffer. These are among the principal symptoms and causes of the comprehensive crisis from which the country is suffering, in the political sphere as well as all others.

We celebrate this anniversary, having full certainty that the trend of liberation, democracy, justice and identity is irreversible, that our deprived oppressed people is worthy of these great values and noble aspirations for which successive generations have given so many sacrifices, and that the accumulation of the effort of various national forces and their unity brings those aspirations closer day by day, despite the resistance and attempts of the forces of despotism and procrastination.

We celebrate this anniversary, with full conviction that freedom and democracy are the common objectives agreed upon by all national forces, and that co-operation and co-ordination is our tool for emerging from this stifling crisis suffered by our country and Ummah.

Ladies and gentlemen, we use this occasion to reveal some aspects of the crisis in our country, and to shed light on our intellectual and political vision, and our proposals for a political solution.

The International Situation

The world around witnessing a state of agitation, with numerous regional and international conflicts in an unprecedented way. Humanity had hoped that the end of the cold war had put an end to such exhaustive conflicts and that an era of peace, co-operation and understanding between the world’s nations, civilizations and cultures was upon us. For a number of reasons, the greatest share of these conflicts and crises has fallen upon our Arab and Islamic region. A new wave of foreign intervention is sweeping across the region, with a return to the policies of military expansion and foreign occupation, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, after the painful experience of Palestine. Furthermore, political despotism and authoritarian rule are protected and supported by the West, deepening the wounds of this region, kindling its crises, and undermining the elements of stability there, as reflected in the rise in the phenomenon of political violence, the unprecedented wave of terrorism and the increase in secret illegal immigration through the so-called “death boats”.

In this context, we ought to emphasise that the Arabo-Islamic region is in dire need of a genuine political reform that fulfils the aspirations of its people towards real democratic change. This can only materialize through enabling the people of the region to express their free will and choose their rulers and representative institutions and desisting from providing political cover and economic support to corrupt and despotic regimes, while proclaiming to champion reform.

The call for reform is the _expression of a rich tradition of struggle by generations in our country. Reform is a well-established choice which has been and continues to be the demand of various political and social trends in our country and across the Muslim world. Seen in this light, it could not be considered a foreign project, even if today it coincides with international calls for reform and democratic change which still lack credibility.

What we ask of western parties calling for reform is to be genuine, and not use this call as a pretext for blackmail, interventionism and confiscating what remains of national sovereignty, or for imposing military occupation. We do not call for foreign forces to replace the people as the agent for effecting political changes, or to wage wars against this or that regime. We merely call upon those forces to desist from providing material and moral support to forces of despotism in the name of preserving security and stability, and to leave the people to assume responsibility for the rest.

The Regional Situation

The Arab Maghreb countries are witnessing a phase of transformation and political agitation, to varying degrees. Algeria, Morocco, and even Libya, are moving towards gradual emergence from authoritarian rule and towards gradual political reform.

Tunisia’s neighbour, Algeria, is actively striving to move away from the casualties of its bloody conflict from which it had suffered for many years, and which risked leading to the collapse of the social contract and the perpetuation of a destructive civil war. With the coming of President Abdelaziz Boutefliqa to power, Algeria took important steps towards ending the conflict, through the policy of civil accord and striving to promulgate a general amnesty which does not exclude those who took up arms against the state. The Algerian situation witnessed progress in political participation freedom, as well as freedom of _expression, which enabled Algerians to elect a pluralistic parliament, where a diversity of political forces is represented. Algerians elected their president through open elections, which enjoyed a certain degree of credibility, allowing Algeria to continue its march towards regaining its historic status in the world.

Morocco has also seen similar progress in political life. Since the coming of King Mohamed VI to power, Morocco has been witnessing a noticeable trend toward widening the margin of liberties and political participation and lifting restrictions on civil life. This has gone hand in hand with a process of redressing the errors of the political regime in previous decades, releasing political prisoners and compensating victims.

The Libyan political scene has also not been free of signs of political openness and change. The regime in that country has begun to give reasonable indications of change and reform and opting for the methodology of national conciliation through negotiations with the opposition, such as the amnesty given to a number of Ikhwan activists sentenced to death, who are currently waiting to be released and allowed to participate in their country’s life.

A pattern of gradual political changes is indeed emerging in the Maghreb and wider Arab region, with further openness to moderate Islamic movements, which has contributed to strengthening civil stability and preventing the evils of violence and radicalism.

Tunisia has sadly remained stubbornly outside this movement of reform.

The Political Crisis

Conditions in our country have continued to deteriorate and the crisis has continued to intensify, bringing the country to an unprecedented state of political closure. It would be no exaggeration to assert that in Tunisia political life has been stripped of any meaning. The gulf between the people and the state has widened and the ruling elite has become further estranged and isolated from public opinion and from realizing current trends and progress internally and internationally.

The rule of President Ben Ali came on 7 November 1987 with the promises of fulfilling political and cultural demands championed by various political and intellectual trends in Tunisia, who gave immense sacrifices over successive generations, such as lifting the ruling party’s control of the state, effecting political reform, re-asserting Arab identity, and abandoning the policies of violence and exclusion which characterized the Bourguibian era, particularly in its final years. The Tunisian people in general, regardless of political and intellectual affiliation, greatly welcomed the declaration of the new regime and its proclaimed slogans such as “No injustice after this day !” and “the people of Tunisia have reached a certain degree of awareness and maturity which makes it qualified for a genuine democratic life”. The figures of the new wear were also granted unprecedented support. However, the presidential and legislative lections of April 1989, which came less than two years after the beginning of the new era, put an end to those great hopes, due to the falsification, fraud, undermining the will of the electorate and taking possession of all the reigns of power and political life which characterized the elections. Since the elections, the country witnessed a drastic decline which has been deteriorating day after day. Thus has been the result of Tunisia’s “new” rulers’ abandonment of the promises of change which reform which they proclaimed the day they took the reigns of power.

Tunisian political life is characterised by a state of extreme closure and suffocation. This is the result of the Tunisian regime’s heavy reliance on security measures unsuitable for dealing with political matters, and its adoption of the tools of repression and persecution, as a substitute for dialogue and communication with the existing social and political forces. This is in addition to exploiting the state-controlled media to defame opponents, using the justice system for fabricated accusations and severe sentences as a warning to whoever considers playing the role of genuine opposition. The official political scene has been restricted, to the extent that political opposition has lost all meaning, or indeed life. Political parties have been reduced to subservient entities legitimating and praising the regime and its policies, opposition parties, which though officially authorized, continue to be targets for restrictions and harassment, or opposition parties denied legal legitimacy and subjected to staunch punitive and eradicationist policies continuing to this day.

The roots of the crisis go back to the beginning of the nineties when the regime resolved to eradicate the Islamist opposition represented by an-Nahdha movement, under the pretext of fighting the so-called “fundamentalist threat”. A widespread campaign of repression began, targeting the entire leadership and membership. The security apparatus was granted leave to launch indiscriminate and arbitrary raids and arrests, and to unscrupulously use all methods of savage torture against the detainees and their relatives. Within a few months, Tunisia’s prisons and detention centres filled with 30,000 of Tunisia’s best-qualified men and women, and the country was turned into mass slaughterhouses specializing in torture and all forms of physical and psychological harassment. This took place at police stations and premises of the Interior ministry, with the approval and participation of senior members of the regime, as reported in Amnesty International’s 1994 report.

Even though this war of eradication first targeted the Islamist opposition, it later spread like a deadly cancer to target everyone and persecute opponents from across the political and social spectrum, including liberals, leftists, nationalists, trade-unionists and civil society activists. The doors were opened wide for police harassment and show trials, targeting most of the figures of the political opposition. As a consequence, political life as a whole was handicapped, and various aspects of Tunisian society were also affected. In view of the country’s small population, one can say that it would be difficult to find a Tunisian family unaffected and grieved- through one of its sons or daughters or relatives-, by arrest, imprisonment, torture, exile, harassment or in the least work and other life restrictions. In the last decade and a half, Tunisia has witnessed a dark painful era, unprecedented in its modern history- including under French occupation. The crisis continues.

Today, over one and a half decades since the beginning of the repression campaign against Islamists first and later extending to the rest of the political spectrum, Tunisia appears to be amongst the world’s most closed and rigid countries, unparalleled by Bourguiba’s era, despite its ills, nor by neighbouring countries. The gulf between Tunisia’s reality and the democratic standards for which its people aspire is horribly wide.

Tunisia has, since independence, suffered from the evils of political authoritarianism and individual rule. Its people and various intellectual and political forces had imagined that the departure of Bourguiba would finally put an end to this despotic tradition. However, to Tunisia and Tunisians’ dismay, this authoritarianism only became fiercer and more destructive with time. The ruling party still dominates all positions and institutions of the state. Security forces have become more powerful, unruly and unaccountable than ever before. The government has become more centralized and individual. The ruling party has taken full control of the state ; the security forces have taken control of the Party, and all security and political decisions have all come under the President’s absolute control.

The political crisis in Tunisia is epitomized by the hundreds of political prisoners, from among an-Nahdha movement’s leaders and members who are still languishing behind bars over a decade and a half after their arrest. They are subjected to extremely severe conditions and inhumane circumstances, suffering solitary confinement, physical punishment, psychological and moral destruction, sexual harassment and rape of prisoners and their relatives, as well as deprivation from access to books and medical treatment. This has led to the death of many, either under torture or due to willful medical neglect, such as Sahnoun al-Jouhri, Mabrouk Al-Zran, Abderraouf Laribi, and many others, may God have mercy on them all. While various local and international humanitarian and human rights organizations continue to call on the Tunisian authorities to put an end to the use of torture and arbitrary arrests, to release political prisoners and promulgate a general amnesty, the Tunisian authorities continue to disregard these calls, going as far as denying the very existence of political prisoners in Tunisia. Equally difficult is the situation of thousands of former prisoners who have been subjected to restrictions and in fact to life in a moving prison. In fact the whole country has been transformed into a large-scale prison, where ordinary citizens do not feel safe from harassment from those in authority or gangs related to them.

As for Tunisian elections, whether local, legislative or presidential, they have also become a flagrant reflection of the country’s crisis and its authoritarian system. The President won the Presidential elections last October, for the fourth term, with 95% of the votes, following a constitutional amendment which allows him to run indefinitely and become effectively president for life, with formal competition from candidates chosen for this role. The ruling party- the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) won the legislative elections with a percentage exceeding 90%, except for a quota of 20% reserved for favoured “opposition” parties (37 seats), contravening the most basic rules for electoral competition and the principle of alternation of power. As for the local elections which took place on the 9th of May, the ruling party, as expected, won 94% of local councils, leaving the rest for domesticated parties, after the opposition alliance “Democratic Alliance for Citizenship” was forced to withdraw and join other parties boycotting the elections, due to the flagrant interventions and fabrications during the elections.

Today in Tunisia, there is hardly anything in the sphere of politics, government or the media, which is not engrossed in hypocrisy and isolation from reality. Elections do not represent the electorate’s will ; political life does not reflect the real active political and social trends ; the press and media do not express elements of reality ; society’s institutions do not represent the interests of those they claim to represent, nor do ruling institutions and figures reflect the will of the rules.

Tunisia today represents a political exception, whether it is judged by Maghreb, Arab or African standards- a political exception, not only because it is considered one of the region’s most despotic and authoritarian countries, but also because it represents an extreme case of despotism that is covered by slogans of democracy and modernity, leaving Tunisian despotism undefined. While the government continues to talk about democracy, human rights and civil society, the security apparatus’s grip tightens on civil society with every passing day. The political scene is restricted further and further to the extent of the disappearance of the minimum conditions for political action. The gulf separating the official political discourse and real practice on the ground is truly immense.

Civil Society

All institutions of civil society, including professional and social organizations and humanitarian and human rights groups have been disabled by policies targeting them- ranging from complete banning, to domestication and containment, to plots to cause internal conflicts and collapse, in order to prevent them from playing an effective role. The Tunisian General Workers’ Union (UGTT), the eldest trade union in the Arab world, and possessing the largest membership, is still subjected to containment and restrictions. Its central leadership is controlled and committees are prevented from expressing the will and interests of Tunisian workers.

The Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LTDH) and the Tunisian Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners are victims of continuous political restrictions and security control to force them to submit to official orders and prevent them from playing their role in exposing documented widespread violations of human rights and liberties, including torture, arbitrary detention, political trials and unending police harassment. Other professional bodies, such as the Lawyers’ Bar, the Tunisian Association of Young Lawyers, the Journalists’ Association, and others have been subjected to the threats of direct control by the ruling party, restrictions and punitive measures, prosecution and political show trials. Most other civil institutions are subservient to the ruling party and the executive authority, such that they have no noticeable role or effect in political or civil life.

Media & Press

The media sector suffers various forms of censorship and a harsh policy of sanctions. Journalists are prevented from practicing their profession freely, and censorship on media institutions has increased alarmingly. Opposition papers and media outlets are either permanently banned and censored, or suffer constant financial and administrative pressures forcing them to relinquish their independent information role.

As for the visual media, entirely controlled by the regime, their predominant characteristic is superficiality and triviality. In addition the Internet is subjected to constant restrictions by specialized censorship bodies, such that the sites of many opposition parties, independent media and human rights groups are inaccessible. In this context, the case of journalist Abdallah Zouari, who has been exiled to the extreme South of the country away from his family, remains a alarming and disgraceful case for Tunisia.

The Economic and Social Crisis

Our society has been plagued by various forms of economic corruption including bribery, nepotism and exploitation of status on all levels. These are dangerous ills, which lead to social injustice, generate hatred, undermine individual and communal efforts, burden the poor and enable opportunists to illegally monopolise the country’s resources. This undoubtedly calls for an urgent and firm strategy aimed at curing this disease before it drags the country towards collapse.

Tunisians live under the burdens of this stifling social crisis, struggling to provide safety to themselves, their family and property due to widespread social deviance, crime, violence, fraud and social disintegration. They struggle to meet the rising costs of living under conditions of decreasing purchasing power and phenomenal growth in needs, demands and aspirations, in the context of a culture of consumerism encouraged by a wealthy minority.

If s/he happens to be unemployed (officially unemployment stands at 15%, while experts in the field claim it is closer to 25%, particularly among graduates), then to those concerns is added that of finding a job, which is often an impossible mission due to the large number of unemployed men and women. This in turn is reflected in lower wages, and the consequent rise in debt with its devastating effects on the lives of individuals, families, banking institutions and economic stability.

The social crisis has been aggravated, the middle class has shrunk, and the slogan of putting economic development before political openness has been discredited and has not led to prosperity or economic growth. As a result of corruption and lack of transparency, the country’s deficit has multiplied, debt has increased, and escaping in “death boats” from the so-called “economic paradise” has become the dream of most Tunisian youths. This political and economic crisis has cast its shadow on social and cultural life, giving rise to dangerous social and moral phenomena, hitherto unknown in the country.

Our Project

Under these conditions which threaten to lead to an internal explosion and the spread of violence and consequent tragedies for our country, the need becomes greater for a historic reconciliation between all components of the political elite. We do not believe that such a step is possible with the continued exclusion of a principal party of that elite, which is an-Nahdha movement. Today we take this opportunity to stress the characteristics of our civilisational project is in order to further clarify the principal characteristics of an-Nahdha’s comprehensive vision, to do remove any ambiguity, doubts or suspicion.

An-Nahdha as a safety valve against violence

An-Nahdha has been a factor of political stability and an element of prevention of radicalism and violence in our country, thanks to its wide grass root appeal and moderate balanced Islamic discourse. However, the systematic official efforts to eradicate the movement and exclude it from public presence have contributed to the climate of violence and radicalism. It is obvious to any fair-minded observer of the Tunisian situation, that the relative stability enjoyed over the last period -in comparison with neighbouring countries which slid into destructive civil conflicts-, are in reality not a result of the particular genius of the regime, or its security policies as it claims, so much as a consequence of an-Nahdha Movement’s commitment to its responsible peaceful methodology, and its refusal to be pulled into counter-violence.

Tunisia has been saved from the disaster of violence, not due to the security vigilance vaunted by the regime, but thanks to the vivid awareness by the opposition- particularly the Islamic opposition- of the danger of being dragged into the bloody cycle of violence. The police apparatus can never guarantee stability. It is the political maturity and strategic choices of the opposition- at the forefront of which is the Islamic Movement- of commitment to peaceful and civil action which have achieved that stability.

However, in the alarming state of political and cultural vacuum where the country finds itself today, as a result of the suffocating security measures, the climate of despondency reigning over the largest sector of Tunisians due to economic failures and under a widening circle of social exclusion, the specter of violence is becoming a real danger threatening the country and its future. It is clear to any observer of the Tunisian situation that the noticeable presence of Tunisian youth in European prisons, and in all international networks of violence which are fed by internal political closure and social marginalization and international agitation resulting from policies of expansionism and occupation.

1. An-Nahdha and Relationship with the Other

Allah says in the Quran “O mankind ! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily the most honourable of you with God is he who is most God-conscious”.

He also said “And indeed We have honoured the Children of Adam, and We have carried them on land and sea and have provided them with lawful good things, and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preferment.”

An-Nahdha positions itself among the trend of dialogue between cultures, civilizations, faiths and peoples, in order to build alternative relations to those based on wars and bloody conflicts, relations built on peaceful interaction and exchange of material and moral interests, on the basis of respect and co-operation between nations and civilizations, which would contribute to the service and elevation of humanity. This vision is based on various Quranic texts that define the relationship between humans as one of cooperation for the cultivation of the earth.

International events in the last few years, particularly after the dreadful events of 9/11, have led to a grave deterioration in the relation between the Muslim world and the United States in particular, and western nations in general. The consequence has been America’s adoption of the policy of military expansionism and occupation, and on the other side to a rise in feelings of hatred and the strengthening of radical and violent groups. Such climates are equally painful and costly for both the Western and Muslim worlds.

We reject hegemonic relations, neo-colonialism and the promotion of a clash of civilizations and religions and condemn the international campaign on Islam and Muslims. We defend the peoples’ right- as guaranteed by international agreements- to resistance and liberation and to rejection of intervention in their affairs and of terrorist groups and thought.

Our position on ‘Western’ reform projects

A certain trend has emerged within the American administration, and later a similar trend in the European Union, which supports dialogue with moderate Islamic movements. We believe that this, regardless of motives, is a wise and practical stance, for a genuine and serious reform is inconceivable without the participation of moderate Islamic parties which have continued to prove their presence, popularity and effectiveness in the Arab and Muslim world in general, day by day. As a committed moderate Islamic movement, we will from our part support any call for dialogue which may ease conflicts, achieve common interests, and lead to co-operation between nations and civilizations, on the ruins of wars and destructive conflicts.

2. An-Nahdha & Democracy

The Tunisian Islamic movement was characterized by its combination of its Islamic identity andthecallfor democracy. Thus its involvement in political life came to strengthen the Tunisian political movement, and an element of support for civil society and the struggle for democratic change in general. An-Nahdha perceived itself as a continuation of Tunisia’s Islamic reform heritage since Khayreddine Al-Tounsi, Sheikh Al-Thaalibi, Sheikh Taher Ben Achour and their colleagues and disciples in the Arab east and west, for whom reform and revival were not divorced from the demands of a political rule restricted by the constitution, the widening of the scope of freedom and public participation, and the eradication of authoritarian absolutist rule.

Since its declaration in 1981, the Tunisian Islamic movement has made pioneering efforts in the field of establishing and promoting pluralistic democratic thought in the Tunisian Islamic circles and to the Arab and Islamic environment in general. It also relentlessly sought to become part of the official political life and avoid the pitfall of secret activity, repeatedly applying for legal authorization since its declaration, but to no avail.

It must be stressed here that democracy, as a belief in the value of Man, his dignity and freedom, in justice, equality, and sovereignty of the people, and as procedural mechanisms for regulating difference and pluralism and the rest of electoral results, is not linked to any particular ideology, just as a despot can adopt any particular ideology, or in fact none at all. Thus, we are all called upon to provide guarantees for democratic development, most importantly the culture of civil coexistence and common recognition and the balance between the state and society so as to check the ruler’s power.

An-Nahdha has a clear and definitive stance which condemns and rejects violence and terrorism, whoever its proponent or victim may be. Aggression against innocent victims is rejected, as is the use of violence in intellectual and political difference within the same country. Similarly resorting to wars between nations and civilizations is also definitively and categorically rejected.

An-Nahdha movement rejects the use of violence in order to gain or to remain in power. It is committed to the principle of peaceful civil alternation of power, and intellectual and political dialogue as the mechanism of resolving differences and establishing national accord and stability. It believes in a pluralism that does not exclude any group, as long as it promotes its thought through peaceful methods.

An-Nahdha & the Theocratic State

This concept has - particularly in contemporary political thought - acquired many negative connotations as the antithesis of the role of reason and the law, rule in the name of God on earth. Thus an-Nahdha does not adopt this concept, but rejects it completely as a concept that is alien to Islamic thought. On the contrary, it strives for the establishment of the state of law, justice, reason and freedom, which is based on the essence of Islamic thought far from the disfigurations and deviations which arose as a result of the despotism and decline which have befallen our Muslim ummah.

The source of political legitimacy is the people, which alone has the right to elect rulers, bring them to account, depose them and replace them, by alternation through peaceful methods and through free and fair elections. No authority, under any guise- religious or other- has the right to cancel the principle of the supremacy of the electorate’ will and the acquisition of legitimacy only through free and fair elections, where citizens are free to express their judgment of what is best for their interests and those of the country.

Our Islamic thought methodology is based on a particular ijtihad (approach) which, as much as possible, brings together the principal objectives (maqasid) and changing human conditions. Thus it remains a relative human ijtihad and does not rise to the level of absolute truth. What we propose to the people is only a human effort, and they have absolute freedom to accept or reject it, without that undermining their religious beliefs, for an Islamic party is not in any way a reference point for fatwa (legal edicts), and furthermore, in Islam, there is no religious authority with binding opinions on all Muslims.

An-Nahdha & the Question of Women

Our stance in defending the liberation and rights of women still meets with criticism from radical voices from certain secular and Islamic circles, with the former seeking to exclude us through casting doubt regarding our ‘modernity’, and the latter going as far as ex-communication (takfir), due to our being among the first voices in the Islamic circles to adopt democracy and women’s participation and representation in various institutions of the movement.

An-Nahdha did not view the issue of women’s liberation as an attractive slogan to be used in electoral battles or to defeat a political rival, but has rather considered this liberation to be a necessary condition for the reform of our society and Ummah. An-Nahdha has had to redress the discourse and culture of the ages of decline which discriminated against women under religious pretexts which an-Nahdha considers to be contradictory of the essence of this religion which establishes the honouring of humans- men and women- and their equality before Allah and the law, in rights and obligations.

Striving for National Reconciliation

An-Nahdha movement believes that the country is in urgent need for hastening to undertake firm steps towards change and reform, so as to cause a real rupture with the situation of suffocation, rigidity, closure and despair, and open the door for hope in the future. We re-emphasise our commitment to a comprehensive national conciliation on the basis of moving the country towards freedom, democracy and just development. We also express our appreciation of all the initiatives of various political and civil society groups, our belief that the common points between them should form the basis of the reconciliation and its conditions, and our determination to make every possible effort to support this conciliation and be bound by its terms and cooperate with all parties to achieve its success. Our call for reconciliation, and our willingness to support it, does not in any way mean our abandonment of our responsibility in the political struggle we are engaged in with all possible civil peaceful methods, in order to achieve national objectives which have become a matter of consensus among all political and social parties with whom we are always willing to coordinate efforts and develop common initiatives to the highest possible levels. In this context, we express our support of the call raised by fellow opposition parties for holding an opposition conference in order to agree on a vision for brining the country out of its current crisis.

Finally, our Movement, as it completes a quarter of a century of political work and struggle for liberties :

 Welcomes the calls for dialogue with Islam and its movements and the support of the process of democratic change of rejecting despotic regimes’ exploitation of the myth of the Islamist threat in order to avoid democratic change and acquire aid. It is a positive step for western circles to recognize that the roots of terrorism are not to be found in Islam, but rather in policies used for too long by the West in supporting regimes that are divorced from their peoples and supporting the destruction of the Palestinian people. It is, indeed, positive to recognize that drying the sources of dictatorship is the shortest route to eradicating terrorism which is spreading and which constitutes a danger for Islam itself.

* Welcomes the reform measures undertaken in several Arab countries, such as Morocco and Algeria, emphasizing the importance of the Maghreb union, which still remains ineffective. We also welcome the signs of change in Egypt and the unification of its forces to demand liberties and democracy, and welcome the positive steps of releasing a number of prisoners including leading members Mr. Ali Larayedh and Dr. Ziad Doulatli, and continue to call for the release of the rest, and for granting all full citizenship rights.

* Stresses our commitment to our national obligations and the democratic process, and to the continuation of our struggle, armed with our principles and balanced spirit and with the continuous development of our thought and practice. The highlighting of characteristics of our thought and history do not preclude admission of our responsibility for the last one and a half decade and errors that took place, which are part of the nature of any human endeavour, and which have been addressed on several occasions through evaluation and self-criticism, which must remain constant elements of our methodology. Our movement welcomes all constructive criticism from its members, friends, and even opponents.

* Calls upon all national parties and human rights organizations to consider the urgency and priority of the release of political prisoners, putting an end to political trials and lifting of restrictions on released prisoners.

* Calls for guaranteeing the freedom of the media, of association and gathering, and putting an end to the stifling climate of fear and despair in the country

* Calls for an end to the use of torture, prosecuting those responsible for it, and compensating its victims.

An-Nahdha Movement, despite the severe plight and persecution it has suffered, has not stopped at embodying patience, self-control and responsibility by committing itself to a peaceful methodology for demanding an end to the injustice to which it has been subjected and being granted full rights like all citizens. It has further continued to call for dialogue and reconciliation and has tirelessly made numerous efforts towards that end. On this occasion, it wishes to stress its unwavering commitment to dialogue and comprehensive national reconciliation. For that objective, it is ready today, just as it has been ready before, to put the past and its tragedies behind it and the future and its hopes before it, and sincerely holds its hand to its political partners and decision makers who wish to do the same, for the sake of a genuine dialogue leading to a comprehensive reconciliation for the good of Tunisia and all Tunisians.

Allah says “I only seek reform to the best of my power, and my guidance cannot come except from Allah”.

An-Nahdha Movement of Tunisia

28 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1426

6 June 2005