Successive protests in Gabès: Tunisia monitors the moves of the Muslim Brotherhood
Tunisia’s Muslim Brotherhood never misses an opportunity to exploit any movement — whatever its purpose — if it can serve their own political ends. In some cases, they are the ones who ignite it from the start.
In their ongoing effort to “sow discord within the state,” the Brotherhood has taken advantage of peaceful demonstrations in the southeastern governorate of Gabès over environmental pollution, attempting to turn them into a “tool of chaos aimed at undermining national stability.”
A parliamentary session blocks manipulation attempts
On Monday, the Tunisian Parliament held a questioning session with the government regarding the environmental and security situation in Gabès, following three weeks of protests calling for the closure of the chemical complex after repeated incidents of suffocation caused by toxic air emissions.
Several members of parliament implicitly accused the Muslim Brotherhood of fueling unrest in the coastal city, while the Ministry of Interior revealed on Saturday a “sabotage plot” targeting the complex, which contains about 100,000 tons of hazardous materials.
That same day, 89 individuals involved in the protests appeared before the public prosecutor, three of whom were referred to the Judicial Counter-Terrorism Division.
Rejection of political exploitation
Tunisian Parliament Speaker Ibrahim Bouderbala expressed his solidarity with the residents of Gabès, praising their sense of responsibility and awareness “in seeing through the attempts of those who seek to exploit events for suspicious purposes unrelated to the public interest.”
During the plenary session, Bouderbala emphasized the importance of clarifying facts and preventing any attempt to politicize the events, noting that the Gabès crisis “is not recent but the result of decades of neglect and poorly planned environmental policies.” He called for the assertion of rights through peaceful means.
Warnings of an external conspiracy
Tunisian MP Abdessattar Zraïli stressed “the need to prevent any slide into chaos,” warning that certain parties might exploit the crisis for political or foreign purposes.
Speaking on the sidelines of the parliamentary session, he said: “There is a conspiracy against Tunisia… but we will not allow the fall of the state.”
Zraïli expressed fears of “external schemes targeting the state,” affirming that maintaining stability is a shared national duty.
He called for “blocking the path of traitors and collaborators,” asserting that “what is happening in Gabès is not merely an isolated environmental issue but a dangerous indicator of deep-rooted corruption and a direct threat to social peace across the country.”
President Saïed: the Brotherhood is floundering
Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed directly accused the Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday of stirring unrest in Gabès amid protests demanding the dismantling of the chemical plant.
Saïed stated that Tunisia had successfully faced many challenges, which, he said, had driven “its opponents and conspirators into confusion and contradiction.”
Referring implicitly to the Brotherhood, he added: “Those who are lavishly funded from abroad to serve as mercenary and frenzied mouthpieces remain oblivious — and will always remain oblivious — to the fact that their rhetoric has rusted; almost no one listens to them anymore.”
He concluded by affirming that “Tunisia will meet its rendezvous with history, on the path to success, because the Tunisian people have pledged to overcome all challenges,” stressing the need for unity between citizens and security forces “in facing those who seek to exploit the environmental crisis for their own agendas — motives that are now clear to everyone.”
