“People thought: you get democracy, you get jobs,” explained President Marzouki as he described the fragility and urgency of the situation facing the government and the dependency of achieving political reform on securing economic growth. If job creation is not forthcoming, the public’s patience to achieve democratic institutions and process is threatened.
Improving the economy remains the prime challenge facing Tunisia’s new coalition government. Failure to address the economic needs and the creation of jobs could derail the political project of democratisation including the building of strong institutions. Substantial and growing polarisation in the political arena risks slower economic recovery, and could be a strategy of the counter‐revolutionary forces, or those forces that were unsuccessful in the recent elections who wish to see the project of the current coalition fail. The government (President and elected members of National Constitutional Assembly) and Ennahdha leaders consistently outline the urgency of the country’s economic situation. They stress their openness to international assistance and request international support from the EU, Gulf, the US, as well as having broader links with Asia, Africa and South America.
Achieving pluralism in the political arena is crucial to the success of the institution of a strong democratic system and national unity. Tunisia’s current coalition, (of secular, leftist and Islamic faith‐based parties) appears well aware of the weight upon its shoulders. Political parties and diverse sectors of society respond differently when asked their opinion of the challenges facing the country. Those parties and organisations commonly referred to as ‘secular’, but in some instances may be more accurately referred to as ‘hard line’ secular, (due to their uncompromising rejection of Muslim political actors, in contrast to the governing coalition liberal secular parties,) state that the biggest challenge will be the writing of the constitution.
They argue that Ennahdha are an unchanged political force from the late 1980s when the party contested elections, and assert that the four key challenges in the constitution writing process will be: gender equality (personal status law), relation of religion and state in the democratic system, introduction of capital punishment, and enshrining freedom of belief in law.
Members of the coalition government, including Ennahdha, respond that on all four issues or criticisms outlined by hard line secularists, they have already indicated their position and that there will not be any controversy regarding those articles of the constitution. As one advisor to the Ennahdha leadership stated, “It will be a secular constitution but it won’t be called secular. It will have a civil government, pluralistic, neutrality of religion and it will equal secularism, gender equality?” Ennahdha has also repeatedly stated that it has no intention of changing the personal status code in which Tunisia’s laws on gender equality are maintained. Moreover, party leaders emphasize that the main challenges facing Tunisia are economic and that despite social and political divisions, they believe success in the economy is fundamental to the continuation of the democratisation process.
Tunisia’s coalition government, with support from the international community, has the opportunity to deliver an example, a working model, for the transition from dictatorship to democracy in the Arab world. Such a model would enable parties rooted in Islam not to be seen as potential spoilers or oppressors of rights and freedoms, but rather an integral part of a new economic and political era in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing prosperity and opportunity to their citizens after decades of political suppression.
To read the full report, please click here.
Julian Weinberg is the Nyon Process Manager at Forward Thinking.
John L. Esposito is University Professor & Professor of Religion & International Affairs, Georgetown University .
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