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Tunisia's next elections will put governing alliance to test

After the founder of the secularist Nidaa Tounes Party Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi expressed his disappointment toward Islamist ally Ennahda, talk is growing about the future of the alliance between the two.

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Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi delivers a speech in Tunis, Tunisia, May 10, 2017. — REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

In a Sept. 5 interview with the Tunisian state paper Essahafa, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi revealed in a surprise statement that he was disappointed with his Islamic allies in power. Speaking about his alliance with the Ennahda movement, he said, “We thought we could at least draw Ennahda to the civic arena, but it seems that we were wrong in our assessment."

After a three-year alliance between Essebsi’s Nidaa Tunis party and the Islamic Ennahda, the president is no longer convinced that the movement has turned into a civic party.

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