The parliamentary system might have deepened the political crisis and helped Muslim Brotherhood to expand
Many voices in Tunisia are calling for a change in the parliamentary system and returning to the presidential one, having in mind a new linguistic term in Tunisia’s politics: the so-called “third republic”.
These calls are a corollary to what happened during the previous parliamentary periods. The idea of changing the political system is directly linked to the parliamentary system that led to the state of government failure, due to political differences between the governmental institutions, especially under the current government headed by Elias al-Fakhakh.
The Renaissance Movement Dominated the Parliament
Tunisia is confronted with a real political crisis, thus, political change has become an urgent need, according to political analysts who see that amid the current circumstances there will be no future for Tunisia.
Tunisian people have lost confidence in the current regime, and opposition politicians hold the regime responsible for corruption, smuggling, and suspicious assignments in the government.
The calls for changing the ruling system place the Renaissance Movement with its strong connection to the Muslim Brotherhood in a corner, since the movement and its affiliated political streams are struggling to keep the parliamentary system, because it serves their interests.
It is noteworthy that the Shura Council of the Renaissance Movement had strongly condemned what it called “targeting the parliament and its president ». The head of the Renaissance Movement, Rashid al-Ghannushi had expressed earlier that his movement doesn’t consider the issue of changing the political system as a political priority.
The Islamic Renaissance movement is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the parliamentary system, as it dominates the government and occupied the position of the speaker of Parliament through the parliamentary system.
The parliamentary system helps the Renaissance Movement to govern Tunisia with 400,000 votes obtained out of 5 million. Other parties are unable to obtain such a huge number of votes due to dispersion.
The Labor Union stops the MB expansion
The dispute of changing the ruling system in Tunisia coincides with the announcement of the Labor Union, calling for a plebiscite on changing the current system, based on the constitution of 2014.
Experts believe that the Labor Union, which led the national dialogue in 2013, is politically able to challenge the power of the Renaissance Movement.
Meanwhile, the Labor Union is subject to smear campaigns, led by the Renaissance Movement and aimed at intimidating the leader of the Labour Union.
Qais Saeed, in his speech in southern Tunisia, described the parliamentary political system as a mafia system, creating political corruption, saying that Rashid Ghannouchi and his party have broken to the trust.
A system that only helps the Renaissance Movement
The constitution law professor Mohamed Hafez Sultani says that the parliamentary system in its current form only serves the MB Renaissance Movement, which fears the presence of a strong president with wide powers that would reveal its criminal practices.
Sultani believes that changing the political system would limit the MB influence in Tunisia and aggravate its isolation.
He added that the Renaissance is betting on the weakness of the presidential institution in Tunisia, in order to achieve their goals. According to Sultani, the movement has failed in penetrating to Carthage Palace during the reign of President Qais Saeed.
No System change amid the absence of a constitutional court
On the other hand, the judge and former president of the administrative court, Ahmed Al-Sawab, affirms that technically, currently it would not be possible to amend the constitution, given that the constitutional court is a key player in this process, and it is not formed yet.
Regarding the plebiscite, Sultani says that it could only be done in the case of draft laws or after voting to amend the constitution. Article 82 states that the President of the Republic may only exceptionally decide to carry out plebiscites for draft laws related to approval of treaties, freedoms or human rights.