The decision of Beji Caid Sebesi to run for president seems to have brought rivalries within Nidaa Tounes into the open, and on Sunday night Tunisians were given a taste of electoral campaign scandals. The revelations, however, did not come from the opposition, but rather from dissenting voices in the leadership of Nidaa Tounes itself. In Sunday evening’s popular political show “For who Dares Only”, Omar Sahbou, a leading figure of Nidaa Tounes, stated that he had obtained confidential information from Caid Sebesi’s doctors and members of family that “they fear for Sebesi’s health and that he would not be fit to attend to duties the presidential post requires during a 5-year term.” Omar Sahbou’s statements triggered strong mixed reactions and dominated the news agenda this Monday. The party’s reaction has been swift and radical. Nidaa Tounes issued a communique in which it deplored Sahbou’s lack of discipline and expelled him from the party, together with Noureddine Ticha, another leading figure, who had expressed support for a rival candidate in protest of Caid Sebesi’s candidacy. Not far from Nidaa Tounes, the Destourian, former Ben Ali RCD party, is in total chaos, now that three former figures have announced their presidential candidacy, respectively Kamel Morjane (Al-Moubadara), Abderrahim Zouari (Mouvement destourien), and Mondher Zenaidi who left for Paris in 2011 and returned over the weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MiIIJ6i-UE
http://www.kapitalis.com/politique/24641
