For the Brotherhood, Qatar Intervenes in the Tunisian Crisis
The Qatari regime, led by Sheikh Tamim ben Hamad Al-Thani, is seeking to resolve the crisis that the Muslim Brotherhood is going through in Tunisia, after President Kais Saied issued decrees that dissolved parliament, suspended its work for one month, and removed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi from office, according to press reports.
Informed sources revealed the intention of the Qatari regime to withdraw the appointment of Kais Saied, the Tunisian President, from the presidency of the International Association of Constitutional Jurists, on the pretext of a coup against the constitution and democracy in Tunisia.
In press statements, the sources pointed to Qatari pressure, through diplomats, on the Tunisian President to retract his decisions against the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
However, Saied’s response was firm, aligning himself in the national ranks with popular demands, which enraged the Emir of Qatar and led him to withdraw Saied’s presidency from the league, which he had founded earlier, and to blockade Saied in the media, according to sources.
Qatar established and funded the International Association of Constitutional Jurists with the aim of attracting Saied and trying to bring him closer to the Tunisian Brotherhood.
Observers believe that this decision reveals that Qatar’s courting of Saied over the past period was part of a strategy to create a balance between the presidency and the Tunisian parliament, but with Saied’s position, the latter revealed Qatar’s support for the Brotherhood only, and its stance against the new Tunisian regime as it previously worked with the Egyptian regime.
The Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar have developed strong relations that have led to many stations of support and direct funding. During the last visit of the Emir of Qatar to Tunisia, he provided funds to Ennahdha and sent aid to it during the recent coronavirus crisis to support its position on the Tunisian presidency, while the Tunisian people did not benefit from it, and it remained exclusively for the Brotherhood, as revealed by the Tunisian Radio Mosaic.
The Emir of Qatar, Tamim, made last night a phone call with the Tunisian President and more than the word “necessity,” which was highlighted by the Qatari press and the Muslim Brotherhood, a word that carries a veiled threat to Tunisia and interferes in its affairs.
The relationship between Ennahdha and Qatar has angered the Tunisian people and parliamentarians, especially after the trade agreement under which Ghannouchi surrendered Tunisia’s wealth and economy to the Emir of Qatar.
