"Ikhwanophobia"

The Guardian’s Brian Whittaker Shocked by Tunisia’s “Discriminatory New Constitution”

Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, dominated by the “Moderate Islamist Party” Ennahda,  has adopted a mini-constitution.

Here’s the Financial Times:

Tunisia’s newly elected parliament pushed through a provisional constitution over the weekend intended to give the assembly broad powers to govern the country and reform the bureaucracy, despite opposition from secular opponents.

A coalition led by the moderate Islamist Nahda party pushed through measures that would allow a cabinet formed and ratified by the parliament to govern and even reshape institutions during an interim period while it draws up a constitution.

Sadly, you have to read Al Jazeera to find out something that the Financial Times didn’t think worth reporting:

Under the provisional constitution, the president must be “exclusively Tunisian, of the Muslim religion“, the child of Tunisian parents and at least 35 years old.

This is what Ennahda had to say:

When asked about the exclusion of non-Muslims [Nejib Gharbi] referenced the overwhelming Muslim character of Tunisia. “Islam is the religion of the majority of Tunisians, and the official religion of Tunisia is Islam. It is normal for the president of the country to be Muslim.”

Brian Whittaker is unimpressed:

Even so, it’s a regrettable step – especially at a time when the Islamist Ennahda party, which won the largest block of seats in the assembly, is trying to convince the world of its commitment to freedom and tolerance.

In a real democracy, running for the presidency should be open to any adult citizen. Using the constitution to impose other requirements is wrong in principle. It limits voters’ choice (sometimes with specific “undesirable” candidates in mind) and implies that the electorate is not to be trusted – that if given half a chance voters would choose someone who is unsuitable for the job.

It is also wrong in principle to stipulate that presidential candidates must belong to any particular religion.

The Financial Times (one of the few western newspapers to report on this issue) quotes an earlier statement from Ennahda saying that members of Tunisia’s (tiny) Jewish community “are citizens enjoying all their rights and duties.” In the light of the new constitutional document, that is clearly not the case.

Ennahda is believed to be moderate in the West, simply because no British newspaper publishes the information that indicates that this is not the case.

Perhaps the Guardian will be the first to note the discriminatory nature of Tunisia’s new mini constitution. We’ll see.