<p>Nine months after the ouster of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and the end of his 23-year-long dictatorship, Tunisia has moved to democratic rule. A moderate Islamist party, Al-Nahda has won the elections, securing over 41 per cent of the vote. <br /><br />Al-Nahda, which was banned during Ben Ali’s rule, has a challenging task. Expectations of the country’s first democratic government are running high. It must plunge into the task of providing good governance immediately so that disillusionment with democracy does not set in. The new parliament will double up as a constituent assembly. It has a year to get the constitution written. <br /><br /><br />This might seem adequate time but in a country that is divided on the role of religion in public life. Tunisia was the first of the Arab countries to shake itself free of dictatorship early this year. It is the first of those countries to hold elections. Other Arab countries with democratic ambitions will be watching closely to see how things unfold.<br /><br />Al-Nahda’s links to Islam have raised fears in some quarters that it will impose conservative cultural and social lifestyles on a country where women have enjoyed equal rights. The party leadership has extended assurances that it is not a party of religious fundamentalists but one that has an Arab nationalist outlook. It has promised not to impose dress codes and restrictions. <br /><br />Yet, whether it will be able to resist pressure from its more conservative rank and file remains to be seen. Tunisia’s secular parties carry a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Al-Nahda will need the support of the centre-left Ettakol and the leftist Progressive Democratic Party to form a government. They will need to ensure that Al-Nahda sticks to its promise of not altering Tunisia’s liberal tradition. <br /><br />Hundreds of lives were lost during the protests that resulted in the overthrow of Ben Ali’s dictatorship. It would be a pity if that tyranny were to be replaced by oppression in the name of religious tradition. Al-Nahda must bear in mind that although it won a large proportion of the vote, an equally large section voted in favour of secularism. Its win cannot be interpreted therefore as a victory for Islamist politics or a larger role for religion in public life.</p>
<p>Nine months after the ouster of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and the end of his 23-year-long dictatorship, Tunisia has moved to democratic rule. A moderate Islamist party, Al-Nahda has won the elections, securing over 41 per cent of the vote. <br /><br />Al-Nahda, which was banned during Ben Ali’s rule, has a challenging task. Expectations of the country’s first democratic government are running high. It must plunge into the task of providing good governance immediately so that disillusionment with democracy does not set in. The new parliament will double up as a constituent assembly. It has a year to get the constitution written. <br /><br /><br />This might seem adequate time but in a country that is divided on the role of religion in public life. Tunisia was the first of the Arab countries to shake itself free of dictatorship early this year. It is the first of those countries to hold elections. Other Arab countries with democratic ambitions will be watching closely to see how things unfold.<br /><br />Al-Nahda’s links to Islam have raised fears in some quarters that it will impose conservative cultural and social lifestyles on a country where women have enjoyed equal rights. The party leadership has extended assurances that it is not a party of religious fundamentalists but one that has an Arab nationalist outlook. It has promised not to impose dress codes and restrictions. <br /><br />Yet, whether it will be able to resist pressure from its more conservative rank and file remains to be seen. Tunisia’s secular parties carry a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Al-Nahda will need the support of the centre-left Ettakol and the leftist Progressive Democratic Party to form a government. They will need to ensure that Al-Nahda sticks to its promise of not altering Tunisia’s liberal tradition. <br /><br />Hundreds of lives were lost during the protests that resulted in the overthrow of Ben Ali’s dictatorship. It would be a pity if that tyranny were to be replaced by oppression in the name of religious tradition. Al-Nahda must bear in mind that although it won a large proportion of the vote, an equally large section voted in favour of secularism. Its win cannot be interpreted therefore as a victory for Islamist politics or a larger role for religion in public life.</p>
