Ennahda seeks to abandon Sharia in Tunisia's constitution

London-based Tunisian opposition MP Hachimi al-Hamidi, is calling on the MPs of Ennahda Islamic movement in the National Constituent Assembly (NSA) to ally with the MPs of al-Aridha al-Chaabia - which he leads and  is represented by 26 seats - to form a strong parliamentary bloc that would express the views of the majority of Tunisians who demand a civil democratic constitution with tIslamic law as the basic reference for legislation. This call follows the Ennahda movement's decision to adopt Chapter I of the 1959 Constitution which provides that Tunisia is a free independent and sovereign state, Islam is its religion, Arabic is its language, and a republic is its system. Hamidi said in a press conference that: “The position taken by the Ennahda leadership, which rejects Islamic law as a basic reference for legislation in the new constitution, is a betrayal to the Tunisian people who voted for Ennahda in the elections, and a betrayal to the contemporary Islamic movement in Tunisia”, as he put it. He also condemned the support of Ennahda’s MPs to their leadership on this point. The al-Aridha al-Chaabia on the other hand,  submitted to the president of the NSA some time ago,  a proposed constitution with Islam as its main legislative framework,  which stipulates in its first chapter that “Tunisia  is a  free, independent and sovereign country, Islam is its religion and its basic source of legislation, Arabic is its religion, and republic is its system.” It should be noted that for many weeks, Tunisia has witnessed  a debate on the Islamic law position in the new constitution that the NSA is drafting. Tunisian were divided into two sides, one calls to cling to Chapter I of the 1959 Constitution that stipulates the civilianism of the state, while the other side of the militant Islamists calls for the necessity of quoting that Islamic law (Sharia) is the main and sole reference of the constitution, which means “the Islamisation of the state”.