In Al-Ghazala neighbourhood, located in Tunisia's northern Siliana governorate, a memorial was established for Mohamed Brahmi, a leftist politician who was assassinated in July last year.

His assassination led to a wave of mass protests in Tunisia that accelerated the finalisation of the new constitution and led to the replacement of the Ennahda-led "troika" coalition government with a technocratic one that administered the country's recent parliamentary polls.  

At Brahmi's memorial, Ahram Online met with Mbarka Brahmi, Mohamed's widow and a newly-elected parliamentarian. Mbarka is a representive of the left-wing Popular Front, which her husband helped found following the 2011 revolution.  

Ahram Online accompanied Mbarka to her house. Before getting into the house, she pointed out the bullet holes on the walls left from the day Mohamed was killed.

Q: Who is Mohamed Brahmi?

Mbarka Brahmi: Mohamed was born in the central governorate of Sidi Bouzid. He started his political career as an Arab nationalist and member of a student organisation called the Arab Progressive Unionist Students, joining it in 1974. I personally joined the group when I entered college, and that was before I met Mohamed. This group used to call for Arab nationalism, and was banned during then-president Habib Bourguiba's one-party era just like other political parties and groups. In 2004, Mohamed established the Unionist Nasserist Movement, but Tunisian authorities refused to turn it into a political party.

Thus, the movement, based on the notion of uniting all Nasserist figures and groups in Tunisia, functioned secretly. After the 14 January revolution, Mohamed created the Nasserist-oriented People's Movement, which won two seats in the constituent assembly in 2011.

One of those seats was for Mohamed himself as a representative of Sidi Bouzid constituency. The other seat came from the movement's candidate in Bizerte governorate (65 km north of the capital Tunis).  Later, Mohamed was one of the founders of the Popular Front that served as an alliance for leftists, encompassing nationalists, Marxists and others.

But other leading figures of the People's Movements refused to join the Popular Front, and Mohamed, as well some of his comrades, became more likely as Nasserist independents inside the Front. On 7 July 2013, they formed the Popular Current, which became one of the basic elements of the front. This came few days before his assassination.

Q: In your view, why were Mohamed and Chokri Belaid both assassinated at that point in time?

MB:  They both defended ideas of national sovereignty and ending foreign hegemony. Through the Popular Front's channel, Brahmi and Belaid represented an alternative to the polarisation between the Islamist Ennahda party and the secular Nidaa Tounis party. Concerning Mohamed, he had clearly showed his opposition to Ennahda as part of the international Muslim Brotherhood organisation. Havoc happens wherever they come.

Mohamed, days before his assassination, had publicly expressed his support for Egypt's 30 June revolution in 2013 (which led to Mohamed Morsi’s ouster) as an extension to the 25 January revolution in 2011. He also said that the Brotherhood is fighting as a proxy of "Zionism and imperialism" in Syria. Two nights before he was killed, Mohamed celebrated the anniversary of Egypt's Nasserist 23 July 1952 revolution in the southeastern Sfax city in a huge conference. Perhaps he was killed on 25 July as it represents the day of the anniversary of the Tunisian republic. 

Q: Whom do you accuse of assassinating Mohamed?

MB:  Since he was killed here in front of his house, I have accused Ennahda, and I still publicly say it. And if Ennahda is not directly involved, it has at least provided the cover for the real killers. I accuse Ennahda because it was responsible for creating the tension-filled, political environment based on enmity, and its men were those who incited against the opposition, even inside the constituent assembly. The party's head of parliamentary bloc, Al-Sahbi Atig, threatened physical assaults against the opposition members.

Prominent Ennahda MP Al-Sadeq Shouru, who is known for his Salafist leanings, previously spoke about a Quranic verse on cutting off hands and legs. Furthermore, Ennahda provided the necessary environment for the rise of extremism and terrorism. Weapons have entered Tunisia and training camps have spread in the country. Mohamed told me that he warned President Moncef Marzouki, an ally of Ennahda, about these problems when he met with him twice. But Marzouki said that these were rumours during one meeting, while saying that weapons, if used, would be directed against members of the old regime during the other.

Q: Are you satisfied with the investigation?

MB:  The investigation is hardly moving, and I believe there are pressures aimed at not finalising the case. Definitely there are some people arrested pending investigations, but I care more about who sent the killer, provided the training, and covered him. I remember that the interior ministry received a document from the CIA on 12 July 2013, warning against the assassination of Mohamed. So, the question is, who hid the document? And who ignored it?

Q: Do you have confidence in the process of justice?

MB:  So far, nothing can give me confidence, and the names accused of murder are nothing but tools in the hands of the real killers. I have no doubt that those who killed Belaid and Mohamed were aiming at a political project, not persons. As I told you, I accuse Ennahda, but I am ready to apologise if the opposite is proven.

Q: Some people argued that foreign interests were involved in the assassination. What do you think about this?

MB: I cannot back that up or rule it out. 

Q: Why did you run for the 2014 parliamentary elections in Sidi Bouzid?

MB: The Popular Current and Popular Front nominated me due to the joint symbolism of Mohamed and Sidi Bouzid. Perhaps my role in parliament may come on account of my children (four girls and one boy). But I took this decision on the basis of having a voice that is close to that of Mohamed in his parliamentary seat.  

Q: What is the future of leftist parties in Tunisia's new parliament?

MB: Leftists in Tunisia have definitely taken a step forward in comparison to the state of organisational division that took place during the 2011 elections. There were seven MPs divided among several parties then, but now we have 15 MPs. The result was achieved despite several difficulties such as the buying of votes from our rivals and the weakness of our capabilities.

Q: Is the Popular Front threatened by splits because of its different elements?

MB: There are no indicators or conditions that could lead to this outcome so far. The front is unified more than any time before. We have a board following up the flow of work. We assume that we have a democratic, organisational structure.

Q: Inside the Popular Front, is there a state of ideological consistency?

MB: We have put our ideological differences aside, and we have convergent views on national issues. 

Q:  Do you agree on the Syrian crisis?

MB: We agree on the necessity of restoring diplomatic relations with Damascus and reopening the Syrian embassy in Tunisia. What is happening in Syria is not a revolution, but rather a threat to the country's social fabric. 

Q: Have the conditions of Tunisian women changed after the revolution?

MB: Women cannot be regarded as an exception from the country's public conditions. When public affairs get worse, women's conditions will worsen as well. But I don't think anyone can negatively affect women's gains after independence. We seek more gains. I believe that women can perform well in parliament as long as they have faith in the message they came to deliver. On a personal level, during my electoral campaign, I cannot forget mothers who do not have personal IDs, girls at the age of my daughters who are not enrolled in schools,  and people in some Sidi Bouzid areas who drink salt water. Either we offer decent lives to Tunisians or get back to where we came from. 

Q: Concerning the new parliament, is it leaning towards the right-wing parties?

MB:  The right-wingers have actually won these elections, which is not surprising given that figures from Ben Ali's regime returned to politics. We noticed such matter during the electoral campaigns. 

Q: Within this context, how can the leftists succeed in parliament?

MB:  This is what we will discover in the coming days. We will be the best to lead the opposition.

Q: But rumours suggest that you will be part of the coming coalition government.

MB: We will not create an alliance with the Islamists; this is a red line. For Nidaa, it has its own political agenda. If we reach a common ground with another party, we can then work together. But definitely we will not be followers of Nidaa, or play the role of Ettakatol or Congress for the Republic (CPR) who joined the troika government with Ennahda.