TUNIS
Tunisian current interim president and presidential hopeful Moncef Marzouki expressed his willingness to work together with the upcoming government, which will be formed by the Nidaa Tounes party that won the plurality of votes in the last parliamentary elections, if he wins against its leader Beji Caid Essebsi in the run-off election, due later this month.
In an exclusive interview with The Anadolu Agency, Marzouki expressed regret that Essebsi refused to engage him in a televised debate, noting that he enjoys the support of the "Social Left" – which is against dictatorship and poverty – as opposed to the "Ideological Left" – whose main opponents are Islamists.
On the concerns of disharmony between him as president and a government led by Nidaa Tounes, Marzouki said: "I am a responsible man and I will deal with the government within the framework determined by the constitution."
"You will find conflicts within each party, yet people continue to live with one another. The same arrangement can happen between the president and the prime minister," he added.
Asked about his program, Marzouki said that it is defined according to the powers extended to the president by the constitution.
"The constitution gives me a bundle of political powers, such as the preservation of the constitution, which I plan to defend with all my strength to maintain freedoms and national unity," Marzouki said.
"The [presidential] palace of Carthage will always remain a place for dialogue, and the national dialogue will continue," he added.
According to Tunisia's new constitution, which adopted a hybrid presidential-parliamentary system, the powers of the next president will be concentrated in the areas of security, defense, foreign economic diplomacy and foreign policy.
The powers of the government, however, will be focused on the management of domestic public affairs.
Marzouki also stated that his rival Essebsi is employing the political machine of the old regime.
"Of course everyone knows that the machine managing my rival's presidential campaign is that of the legally-dissolved Constitutional Democratic Rally party -which reigned during the rule of [ousted president Zine al-Abidine] Ben Ali," he said.
"That's one of his [Essebsi's] rights, and I was against the adoption of a law to remove or prevent [old regime figures] from running because I am a democrat and I considered this to be undemocratic," he added.
"But it is also democratic to have a clear discussion on what [Essebsi's] new program is all about. I believe this is the old regime's mentality with its old ideas. I'm against it and it's my right to be against it," Marzouki said.
"It is up for the people to decide; if they wish to return to the old regime, I will accept their decision, but it's my right to draw the attention of Tunisians to this issue during my campaign," he added.
Marzouki, meanwhile, believes that the political left camp in Tunisia is split into two factions.
"The left in Tunisia, in my opinion, is divided; there is the left whose main enemy is dictatorship and poverty, and I consider this to be the 'Social Left' and I know it supports me. The other is the 'Ideological Left,' whose main enemy is the Islamists, which will not support me and will support the other party."
The Tunisian president stressed that he has made considerable achievements during his first term.
"The transitional phase…was exclusively political; we were required to write the constitution, establish independent institutions and hold legislative and presidential elections in order to build for the future. These were the requirements and they've been achieved," Marzouki said.
"During this period, there were attempts for a coup that began with the assassination of [opposition activist] Mohamed Brahmi on July 25, 2013, and this bid lasted until the end of September 2013," the Tunisian leader argued.
"I prevented this coup and maintained a democracy, then I played an important role in the success of the transition," he added.
Finally, when asked what he intends to do if he didn't win the runoff vote, Marzouki said: "I consider every step at a time."
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