- Also spelled:
- Rāshid al-Ghannūshī or Rachid al-Ghannouchi
- Born:
- c. 1941, Tunisia
- Founder:
- Ennahda Party
- Political Affiliation:
- Ennahda Party
Rached Ghannouchi
-
Who is Rached Ghannouchi?
Rached Ghannouchi, born in Tunisia around 1941, is a prominent political activist and co-founder of the Ennahda Party al-Nahḍah. He studied philosophy in Damascus and at the Sorbonne in Paris before returning to Tunisia and joining the Qurʾānic Preservation Society in 1970.
Ghannouchi helped organize the Islamic Tendency Movement in 1981, which later became the Ennahda Party. This led to his imprisonment from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1987 to 1988. In 1993, he was granted political asylum in Britain. Following Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution, he returned to the country in 2011 and became a leading figure in the new political landscape, eventually serving as speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives from 2019 to 2021.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Rached Ghannouchi known for in Tunisia?
Rached Ghannouchi is a Tunisian political activist known for co-founding the Ennahda Party in 1981, originally named the Islamic Tendency Movement. This party advocated for a fairer distribution of economic resources, multiparty democracy, and integrating more religiosity into daily life through nonviolent means.
Ghannouchi returned to Tunisia in 2011 after a long exile, following the Jasmine Revolution. In post-revolutionary Tunisia, he played a leading role and eventually served as speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Despite initial support for Kais Saied's presidency, Ghannouchi opposed Saied's suspension of parliament in 2021 and faced criticism from within his own party.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Which political party did Rached Ghannouchi help to found?
Rached Ghannouchi co-founded the Ennahda Party (Arabic: al-Nahḍah, meaning "the Renaissance") in 1981, originally known as the Islamic Tendency Movement. The party's initial platform advocated for a fairer distribution of economic resources, the establishment of multiparty democracy, and the infusion of more religiosity into daily life, all through nonviolent means. Ghannouchi's political activism led to imprisonment in Tunisia between 1981–84 and 1987–88, and in 1993, he was granted political asylum in Britain. After the Jasmine Revolution, he returned to Tunisia in 2011 and became a significant figure in the evolving political landscape, even serving as speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives from 2019 to 2021.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What role did Rached Ghannouchi play during the Tunisian Revolution?
Rached Ghannouchi, a Tunisian political activist and cofounder of the Ennahda party, returned to Tunisia following the Jasmine Revolution that ousted Pres. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. After more than 20 years in exile, Ghannouchi's return marked his entry into the new political environment, where he became a leading figure.
Ghannouchi's Ennahda party was legalized in February 2011, enabling it to participate in elections and contribute to drafting the 2014 constitution. Ghannouchi aimed to ensure a stable democratic transition by collaborating with other political leaders, notably Pres. Beji Caid Sebsi. He later served as speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives from 2019 to 2021.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Rached Ghannouchi's views on Islam and democracy influence Tunisian politics?
Rached Ghannouchi, a Tunisian political activist and co-founder of the Ennahda Party, significantly influenced Tunisian politics through his views on Islam and democracy. Ghannouchi advocated for a fairer distribution of economic resources, the establishment of multiparty democracy, and the infusion of more religiosity into daily life.
After the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, Ghannouchi returned to Tunisia and played a leading role in the new political environment, eventually serving as speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives from 2019 to 2021. His party, Ennahda, initially focused on promoting religious freedom and later shifted towards ensuring a stable democracy rooted in Muslim values. This transition reflected a response to the successful protection of religious freedom under the new constitution. Ghannouchi's pragmatic approach involved working with secularist parties and supporting unity governments, though he faced criticism and challenges during periods of political turmoil.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What challenges and controversies has Rached Ghannouchi faced as a political leader?
Rached Ghannouchi, co-founder of the Ennahda party, faced several challenges as a political leader. After returning to Tunisia in 2011, he played a leading role in the new political environment, which included helping to draft the 2014 constitution.
Ghannouchi's close coordination with secularist President Beji Caid Sebsi faced criticism for excluding younger voices, and they later fell out in 2018. As speaker of the parliament, Ghannouchi survived a confidence vote in July 2020 by a narrow margin amidst political turmoil and economic pressures. In July 2021, President Kais Saied's suspension of parliament led to accusations of a coup. Ghannouchi's response caused over 100 prominent members to leave Ennahda, and in 2022, he faced legal charges.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Rached Ghannouchi (born c. 1941, Tunisia) is a Tunisian political activist and cofounder of the political party Ennahda (Arabic: al-Nahḍah [“the Renaissance”]). After studying philosophy in Damascus and at the Sorbonne in Paris, he returned to Tunisia and joined the Qurʾānic Preservation Society (1970). In 1981 he helped organize the Islamic Tendency Movement, which later became Ennahda; this action resulted in his imprisonment (1981–84, 1987–88). In 1993 Britain granted him political asylum. He returned to Tunisia in 2011 after its Jasmine Revolution and was a leading figure in the new political environment, eventually serving as speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives (2019–21).
Role in postrevolutionary Tunisia
Ghannouchi’s return to Tunisia after more than 20 years in exile came after the revolution forced Tunisian Pres. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power in January 2011. In February 2011 Ennahda was officially legalized, paving the way for it to enter candidates in elections. The party was one of the most popular and influential parties in Tunisia in the years that followed, helping draft the 2014 constitution and subsequently supporting the secularist Nida Tounes party in a unity government. The successful protection of religious freedom in the following years inspired him to shift Ennahda’s official focus away from the Islamization of Tunisia and toward the perpetuation of a stable democracy that would allow religious institutions and individuals to operate freely.
To help ensure a smooth and united transition to a new government, Ghannouchi worked closely with other political leaders, especially secularist Pres. Beji Caid Sebsi. The coordination of the two men had decisive influence in the country’s policy making, though the aged “sheikhs” at times faced criticism for leaving out younger voices. The two fell out in late 2018 after Ghannouchi continued to support Youssef Chahed, a Sebsi-appointed prime minister whom Sebsi now wanted to replace.
Parliamentary leadership
Amid the tensions, Ghannouchi announced shortly before Sebsi’s death in 2019 that he would run for parliament later that year, positioning himself for a leadership role within the government. In a reversal that reflected Tunisians’ frustration with the outgoing government, Ghannouchi began distancing Ennahda from its outgoing unity government with Nida Tounes and precluded a potential unity government with the nascent Qalb Tounes party. Instead, he blamed the leadership of those two parties for the continued intransigence in resolving Tunisia’s economic crisis. When a presidential election was held early in the same election season in order to replace Sebsi, Ghannouchi embraced the antiestablishment rhetoric of Kais Saied, whom he backed in the runoff election against the leader of Qalb Tounes.
Although Ennahda lost seats in the parliamentary elections, it maintained a plurality in the body, and, after last-minute negotiations with Qalb Tounes, Ghannouchi was elected speaker of the parliament on November 13, 2019. Though the party was ultimately unsuccessful in naming a prime minister, Elyes Fakhfakh, the centrist nominee of the newly inaugurated President Saied, was only able to form a government after negotiating with Ghannouchi for Ennahda’s approval of a unity cabinet. Tunisia fell into deeper crisis in the months ahead, however, not least because of the economic pressures of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and political turmoil led to greater polarization in the government. In July 2020, as the government geared up to replace Fakhfakh as prime minister amid a corruption scandal, Ghannouchi survived a confidence vote by a mere dozen votes.
The government grew more polarized after a new cabinet took form, led by Fakhfakh’s interior minister Hichem Mechichi. Although the cabinet was composed of technocrats overwhelmingly supported by the parliament, Saied’s intervention in cabinet activities led to dispute over the responsibility of the prime minister’s cabinet to the presidency. At the urging of Ghannouchi and other parliamentary leaders, Mechichi attempted to replace several cabinet members in January 2021, but Saied refused to swear them in.
The impasse between the parliament and the president continued into July 2021, when Saied used an emergency provision in the constitution to suspend parliament altogether. Ghannouchi, although he initially accused Saied of attempting a coup, largely pacified Ennahda and its supporters from escalating the crisis further. After Ghannouchi dismissed the party’s executive committee in August and left little recourse for dissenters to change the party’s response to the crisis, more than 100 of its most prominent members left the party in September. Ghannouchi was one of several opposition figures subjected to legal charges in 2022.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
