Ennahda Movement

The Ennahda Movement (Arabic: حركة النهضة‎ Ḥarkat en-Nahḍa;French: Mouvement Ennahda), also known as Renaissance Party (Tunisian Arabic: حزب النهضة‎ Ḥizb en-Nahḍa) or simply Ennahda, is a moderate Islamistpolitical party in Tunisia. On 1 March 2011, after the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali collapsed in the wake of the 2011 Tunisian revolution, Tunisia's interim government granted the group permission to form a political party. In the 23 October 2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, the first free election in the country's history with a turn out of 51.1% of all eligible voters, the party won 37.04% of the popular vote and 89 of the 217 assembly seats (41%). The party stepped down in January 2014 in order to make way for the final drafting of a constitution by a neutral interim government, followed by planned elections based on the new constitution.

Early years

Succeeding a group known as Islamic Action, the party was founded under the name of "The Movement of Islamic Tendency" (French: Mouvement de la Tendence Islamique (MTI), Arabic: حركة الاتجاه الإسلامي‎ Ḥarakat al-Ittijāh al-Islāmī) in 1981. After the Tunisian bread riots in January 1984 the government suspected the MTI of involvement in the disturbances, and arrested many of its supporters. The MTI leaders had encouraged their followers to join in the riots, but the government produced no proof that they had organized them. The persecution of the MTI enhanced its reputation as an organization committed to helping the people. In 1989, it changed its name to Ḥarakat an-Nahḍah.