Lets just call it a ‘hudna’.
Political pragmatism in the western sense of the word, no not really, self survival in order to fight another day in the Islamic sense, yes really.
Tunisia’s Islamists learned from the Muslim Brotherhood’s failure in Egypt
Unlike former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, the leader of Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda party acted pragmatically when faced with overwhelming opposition.
Supporters of the Islamist Ennahda movement wave party flags during a campaign event in Tunis. (photo credit:REUTERS)
Tunisia’s Ennahda party, the first Islamist movement to secure power after the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolts, conceded defeat on Monday in elections, perhaps drawing a lesson from the failed power grab of Islamists in Egypt.
Unlike former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ennahda’s leader, Rached Ghannouchi, an Islamist scholar who spent decades in exile in Britain, acted pragmatically when faced with overwhelming opposition.
Instead of trying to force his party’s Islamist vision on much of the population that is less religious, Ghannouchi did not overstay his welcome, deciding to continue playing the political game, instead of seizing power in ways reminiscent of Morsi.
His party ruled in a coalition until it was forced to make way for a caretaker government during a political crisis at the start of this year.
