Rashid Ghannouchi

Rashid Ghannouchi is President of the Ennahda Party in Tunisia. He became active in politics when he co-founded the Islamic Tendency movement in 1981, which later became the Ennahda (Renaissance) Party. Since the 1970’s, he has been one of the pioneers of Islamic democratic thought. He was instrumental in the formation of a coalition government between the Ennahda Party and secular parties in 2011, pioneering a new model in the region based on consensus and cooperation between Islamists and secularists. This approach also led to adoption of Tunisia’s new constitution. Rashid Ghannouchi’s leadership has contributed to the development of consensus amongst Tunisia’s differing political parties. He was awarded the International Crisis Group Founders Award in 2015 jointly with Tunisian President Caied Essebsi as a pioneer of peace building.