Tunisia election witnesses acute rivalry, Muslim Brotherhood unlikely to win: Ziada

CAIRO – 13 September 2019: Dalia Ziada, director of Egypt's Liberal Democracy Institute, said Friday that the Tunisian presidential election is witnessing an acute rivalry between candidates.

Abdelfattah Mourou, the candidate of Ennahda Movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, had the biggest spotlight shed on him as the majority of Tunisian citizens fear the control of the Muslim Brotherhood.

However, Ziada said Ennahda has low chances of winning the election because the people of Tunisia do not trust the Muslim Brotherhood that proved utter failure in running neighboring countries.

The death in July of the country’s president, Beji Caid Essebsi, 92, a secularist who was instrumental in steering the country’s transition to democracy, forced the polls to be held earlier than originally scheduled in November.

In a recent interview, Mourou proposed planting a line of trees along the borders between Libya and Algeria “to prevent terrorists from entering or leaving the country.”

This, according to Mourou, will also protect Tunisian youths from joining these terrorist groups.

He also added, during his interview with Mosaïque FM that he is against revoking Tunisian citizenships from youths who joined ISIS and other terrorist organizations.