Qatar has its back to the wall in Tunisia

Ten years after the Arab Spring which brought to power the Islamic-conservative Tunisian party and close to the Muslim Brotherhood Ennahda, Qatar and Turkey have more than ever their eyes on Tunisia.

After the Tunisian President Kais Saied invoked emergency powers, sacked the prime minister and froze parliament, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called on all Tunisian parties to continue the dialogue.

During a telephone interview with Tunisian President Kais Saied, the emir underlined “the importance of fixing the foundations of the State of institutions and of establishing the rule of law in Tunisia”.

The Tunisian presidency gave no further details on the call, however, there is growing concern over Doha’s support for Islamist movements and fears of more aggressive Qatari involvement in Tunisia’s domestic and foreign affairs.

Doha apparently used the Emir's call to restore the lustre to its image that has been tarnished by support for Islamist groups across the region and its commitment to a regional agenda supported by Turkey and Iran to undermine stability in Arab countries in North Africa and the Middle East.

Although Qatar has called in an official statement for de-escalation and for all parties to work together, but signs of Doha 's discontent with the removal of the Brotherhood-affiliated Nahda party from power have been clearly manifested in Qatar-funded media outlets that hastened to denounce with virulence from Sunday evening the “coup” of Kais Saied. 

On the other hand, most Arab governments that have active Political Islam groups of different sizes, have issued statements reiterating their support for the Tunisian president while his opponents called the move a “coup”.

In Tunisia, the Ennahda Party was dominant in the government with the speaker of the Tunisian parliament and leader of the Brotherhood-affiliated Ennahda Party Rachid Al-Ghannouchi.

In recent years, Qatar’s image has been severely damaged in the West, especially Europe, with European officials accusing Doha of playing a major role in supporting Islamist currents in their countries, which have become a serious threat to the security and identity of the continent.

In recent months, a series of scandals have brought Qatar under further scrutiny for its alleged support for extremist groups, specifically its involvement in supporting a Muslim Brotherhood cell that fled Egypt and was broken up by Kuwaiti authorities.

The New York Times also published a leaked audio recording confirming Qatar’s involvement in bombings in Somalia.

Qatar's continued support for the Muslim Brotherhood resulted in a diplomatic rift between Doha and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in 2014, culminating in the withdrawal of the latter three countries' ambassadors.