TUNIS ? On Monday a once brutally repressed moderate Islamist group was poised to win the most seats in an elected assembly tasked with writing the Tunisian constitution and appointing a new interim government.
As Tunisian authorities continued to count ballots in the nation?s first truly free vote, early results, leaked to the Tunisian radio station Mosaique, showed that al-Nahda, Renaissance in English, was leading the polls among many constituencies.
Final results are expected Tuesday afternoon, election officials said, and international observers praised the election for its transparency.
?It is clear to me that this was, hands down, the best, most promising election I?ve ever witnessed, including the ones I?ve seen in the United States,? Jane Harman, an observer with the National Democratic Institute and former congresswoman, said at a news conference.
Tunisia, known for decades for its harsh repression of dissent, has also long had the most progressive laws on women and families in the Arab world. Some secularists fear that if al-Nahda were to win a majority in the assembly it would use its position to reverse such legislation.
But during the campaign, al-Nahda consistently said it would not change progressive divorce and marriage laws and would defend women?s rights along with human rights. The party called its apparent victory a vote for those who struggled and suffered in a fight against injustice.
Party officials estimated they could take 42 percent to 55 percent of the seats in the assembly. The moderate Islamist party is proposing a coalition interim government that would build a solid democratic foundation for Tunisia. It would like to join with other parties to form a government with an al-Nahda member as prime minister and in control of service ministries such as health, development and social affairs, said Said Ferjani, a member of the political bureau.
The party?s hope is that its role in the government will set a precedent that ends Western fear of Islam, and show that democracy and Islam can coexist. Officials also hope to set a precedent in the region, as once marginalized and oppressed Islamists bloom following the Arab Spring uprisings.
?What?s unique here is we have a formal Islamist group or movement who are trying to offer a new model which puts democracy and Islam together,? said Ferjani, who was imprisoned and tortured by the regime of ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali before living in exile for 22 years. ?People are expecting an ideological government which is tainted or painted by Nahda and it has to be Islamist and from [Islamic law.] For us that?s a taboo. Islamist is when you serve the people who rightly elected you.?
The Congress for the Republic party was faring better than expected in early results, coming in second in most places. The group is led by Moncef Marzouki, well known for his long fight for human rights under the Ben Ali regime. Marzouki?s secular party has expressed a willingness to work with al-Nahda.
Surprisingly, the Progressive Democratic Party, a secular party and the strongest legal opposition under Ben Ali?s government, seems to have fared poorly. The party ran a campaign that cast them as the protector of secular and modern values. On Monday party leaders said they would accept their role in the opposition and would not join a government with al-Nahda.
?We are in a democracy, and minorities will play the role of the opposition and we will play this role,? said Maya Jribi, the secretary general of the party. ?We will ask the assembly to apply the demands of Tunisians. We will play a role in the writing of the constitution and ensure it will have a separation of religion and state.?
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=9cbb42e7f0177ba3943c8b0695664d6a
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