Ennahda and opposition leaders in secret talks

Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda Party Tunis – Azhar Jarboui The head of Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party held secret talks in Paris with the leader of the opposition Nidaa Tounis Party, a source from Nidaa Tounis told Arab Today on Sunday. The meeting between Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennadha movement, and ex-premier Beji Caid Essebsi, a sworn enemy of the Islamists and head of Nidaa Tounis, was confirmed in a statement by the centre-right party.
Adel Chaouch, a leading member in the centre-right Nidaa Tounis party, told Arab Today that the two parties met on Thursday, but kept the meeting secret because several members of the opposition Salvation Front coalition are against talks with the Ennahda party.
Although the talks may offer hope for a solution to Tunisia’s ongoing political crisis, the news puts both parties in a difficult situation, as both have members who oppose talks.
Tunisia has been in crisis since the July 25 assassination of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi. The moderate Islamist Ennahda Party, which heads Tunisia\'s ruling coalition, has offered negotiations with the opposition, aimed at forming a national unity government of national unity, but rejects opposition calls to step down.
But speaking to Arab Today on Sunday, Adel Chaouch said dissolving the current government was a non-negotiable demand, as was the rejection of current Prime Minister Ali Larayedh as leader of a new government.
Turning to the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), which most opposition members want dissolved, Chaouch said: “The head of the current government has called for making NCA’s duties limited to finalising the constitution and drafting electoral law, which we agree to and consider to constitute the dissolution of the NCA.”
Addressing concerns that the current unrest in Egypt could be repeated in Tunisia, Chaouch said the Nidaa Tounis party strongly rejected what was happening in Egypt and the idea of it occurring in Tunisia.
Many Ennahda supporters condemn Nidaa Tounis as being a cover for supporters of the former regime.
But Ghannouchi’s office issued a statement on Sunday saying the meeting with Essebsi was positive, and aimed at finding a way out of the political crisis and to reach a consensus rather than escalating tensions.
For its part, Nidaa Tounis said its leader, who attended the Paris talks during a tour of Europe, suggested that Ghannouchi reconsider the opposition’s proposals for ending Tunisia’s political and security crises.
Although the talks could signal hope for a political solution in Tunisia, some observers fear the meeting  may lead to a wave of anger and further division, especially as elements of the opposition will not accept a solution that doesn’t involve dissolving the Islamist-led government and the NCA.