Thread by @AhlemHC

#Ghannouchi. the most hated politician in #Tunisia (surveys). Probably the reason so many Tunisians are willing to accept Saied's power grab after 10 years of democratic transition. How has he been handling the situation since July 25th through his online presence? #Thread

In 2 words: international support. He has been building a narrative for international public opinion, seeking support from foreign governments, NGOs and media. On the 25th, footage of him prevented by the military from entering the Parliament was clearly aiming at that target.

He has one official Facebook page and one Twitter account. On Facebook (major social media platform used by Tunisians), the only content published is in Arabic, mostly press releases from the party, and a couple of articles (only one in English from Middle East Eye.

On Twitter, it's completely different. Most of the content is in English. A lot of international media articles, RT content from foreign officials supporting the return of Parliament, RT content from English and French party accounts. Rarely the Arabic one.

Yes, Ennahdha has 3 different Twitter accounts in 3 different languages and different content. The French one is less active. The Arabic one shares mostly official party content. The English one shares translated official content and content from foreign media (no Tunisian media)

Ghannouchi's account has been sharing a lot of content from foreign media. A few interviews. Not a single piece from Tunisian media. The most shared source is Anadolu Agency, the state-run Turkish news agency. And MME, Jeune Afrique, Reuters, Yahoo, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Jazeera.

But he goes further. Since July 25th, Ghannouchi has published a few opinion pieces to call for support.
The 1st one in the New York Times on July 30th, calling Saied's course of action a coup and a return to dictatorship and asking for dialogue.

Then comes Array Alam (Kuwaiti Arabic language daily newspaper), with the only piece he wrote in Arabic, published on July 31st. But still in a foreign media outlet. In this article, Ghannouchi states that the Arab Spring continues and that Tunisia is safe.

On August 10th, comes a piece published on the british paper "The Independent". In English of course. Again speaking about democracy under threat.

On August 20th, he publishes one more opinion piece on Euractiv (pan-European media network) asking for help from Tunisia's friends. In English once again.

All the interviews posted on the Twitter account have been given to foreign media and news agencies. Ghannouchi hasn't spoken to Tunisian media. He actually hardly ever did in the past. He also hardly ever spoke directly to Tunisians in the past years.

Some of the articles his account posted are only open to subscribers, meaning not accessible to Tunisians in Tunisia because of foreign currency regulations. Including his own opinion piece on The Independent. Didn't he (or his people) know this? Of course, he/they did.

One more thing. His profile picture on Facebook, is of him chairing a plenary session at the Assembly, he's wearing a suit and a Palestinian keffiyeh. The message is that of a national power figure, leader supporting a cause dear to all Tunisians.

On Twitter, however, it's a photo of him in his garden (I suppose), jacket off but with a tie. The message being of a normal, ordinary, "inoffensive" man, neutralizing the somehow worrisome image of the Islamist politician in the Western perception.

So, basically, there are 2 sides to Ghannouchi. One for local consumption, in Arabic, and which seems to have given up on its target audience. And one for international players, very active, highly engaged, with a polished image and targeted message.

And not once, since July 25th, has Ghannouchi publicly addressed Ennahdha voters or members.

Just for fun, this is where you end up when you click on the link to his website from his Twitter profile.

Erratum:
I made a mistake. It is the Tunisian newspaper