"The ex-officials want to return under another flag," said Tunis University professor Sami Brahmi, referring to about half a dozen parties where they are active. It now looks likely that the proposed ban, which would shut about 30,000 "remnants" out of politics, will get lost in the political tumult and the opposition parties will emerge as a potentially strong challenger to Ennahda in the next election. Since the second assassination in late July, ex-officials regrouped in new political parties have spoken out more openly and helped organise and fill the ranks of mass rallies to demand Ennahda step aside and allow new elections. But two murders of leftist leaders this year by suspected radical Salafis and mounting dissatisfaction with Ennahda's Islamist agenda have plunged Tunisian politics into turmoil, prompting the assembly to suspend its work.
The assembly has considered banning them from politics completely. These so-called "remnants" from Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's rule were swept aside by the first of the "Arab Spring" revolts in January 2011 and trounced in voting for a constituent assembly later that year. (Adds details) * Former officials increasingly prominent in politics * Old regime "remnants" and leftists unite * Governing Islamists forced to negotiate with opposition By Tarek Amara and Tom Heneghan TUNIS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Step by step, the once-shunned officials of Tunisia's old order have returned to the political scene and are turning up the pressure on the governing Islamist party Ennahda to make way for them.
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