Tunisian President on Islam, Politics and Extremism

On May 20, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi discussed challenges facing Tunisia at an event hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Essebsi, the founder of the secular Nidaa Tounes (Call for Tunisia) party, cited his country’s political system as a model for the region. He cited the cooperation between diverse political parties, including the Islamist Ennahda party, as a strength of Tunisian democracy.

Essebsi also noted the threat posed by Islamic extremists and the instability in neighboring Libya, where the so-called Islamic State has taken root. He said Tunisia requires more help from the United States and others to fight terrorism. When asked how his government intends to deal with the problem of youth leaving Tunisia to fight in Iraq and Syria, the president said the government is focused on creating jobs and opportunities. “Whenever those people come back, we still embrace them and try to re-include them in normal life,” Essebsi said. The following are excerpts from the president’s remarks.

Islam, Politics and Islamists

“We organized elections in 2011 and at first we gave power to those who were elected because we respected the results of the elections. But we know that most of the people who were elected at that time were not part of our party or our movement. Most of them were from the Islamist party. And we also know, I need tell you, that there is a difference between a Muslim and an Islamist because sometimes there is confusion. Islamism is a political movement that uses religion to reach power and sometimes uses violence as well to reach power.

“The political system that we are following[in Tunisia] does not create any political sensitivities. We know a lot of countries like you would say, ‘these people from the Muslim Brotherhood… how do you allow them to be part of the government?’ … Let me say that I personally do not have a problem, because I’m the one who made the suggestion [to include Ennahda] and who enforced it. We don’t have a problem with Ennahda. They are Tunisians and part of the whole of Tunisia. Their president, Mr. Rachid Ghannouchi, is helping us and helping his country, but he’s also helping his own party. The fact that we are together in the same government -- I’m personally happy that they are helping us with the government.

Extremism and Terrorism

“We have two main challenges, first the security problems and counterterrorism. And terrorism is not a Tunisia-rooted one. It comes from abroad. I mean Tunisia has its own problems, but it suffers from the problem of the whole region. I’m not mentioning any country because I don’t want any diplomatic problems. So we are fighting terrorism. But our friends need to help us in fighting terrorism. And let me state clearly that the United States is helping Tunisia in fighting terrorism. But we want stronger cooperation because we have a border with a neighboring country, Libya. And you know, these borders are open, and lots of terrorists are moving to Tunisia through these borders. And in Libya, we have no state at this point. There are lots of groups, groups of people.

“So there are problems between these groups. And there is the Libya in the north and the Libya in the south. So we have a government in the north and a government in the west, and they are in disagreement. There are lots of differences. But there is also ISIL or Daesh in Libya, the so-called Islamic state, and of course Islam is innocent from all these kinds of organizations. These people are terrorists. But they are in Libya and no one is facing them. They are fighting one another. And they are harming neighboring countries including Egypt and Tunisia. We have the most developed and open country, which is facing the most problems.

“So given the situation, we need to find a solution. Of course, we hope that all the parties in Libya will get closer together, that the state will be back, and we will have the same good old relation. But at this point, the situation is not under control in Libya. And in Tunisia, we have 1 million Libyans living in our country because they cannot live in Libya. And this means further responsibilities for my country and creates more problems. And Libya is one of the closest countries to Tunisia, we used to have huge cooperation, but it all ended now. Tunisia is being punished because we are receiving terrorists and weapons. And second, there is no cooperation anymore between Libya and Tunisia. According to statistics, Tunisia, because of this situation in Libya, lost $5.7 billion. And for a small country like mine, this is huge. I mean this would have helped us to maybe get rid of our crisis.

“If they [Tunisian youth] have been to Iraq and to Syria, it’s because the situation in Tunisia does not allow them to feel stable. They’re young, they’re unemployed, they are not very conscious, they are not aware and there are some groups that we call non-profit organizations that are encouraging them to leave. They’re also funding that exodus. However, when things changed, we shut the door to travel to Syria and Iraq and all those places. Whenever those people come back, we still embrace them and try to re-include them in normal life. But that’s difficult because someone who got used to holding a weapon, killing other people and being aggressive towards others – that’s something that has to stop. We are aware of what’s going on, and whatever mistakes they have committed, they are our children. They’re ours, and therefore we to bear with them. And hopefully we will find them occupations and jobs.”

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