History unfolding in Tunisia
“Tunisia is writing history. What a Sunday in this region,” writes IMS’ Lotte Grauballe from Tunis, a city still gripped by collective euforia following the country’s first democratic elections
By Lotte Grauballe, IMS
Tunis reverberates with relief, joy and pride following impressively well-conducted elections on Sunday, applauded and given a clean bill of health by official observers.
The elections saw a large turn-out, massive cues at the polling stations and a collective euforia emanating into a new national greeting seeing the light of day: Ink-clad fingers pointed in the air accompanied by huge smiles.
‘The people have voted, democracy has triumphed’ read the 48-point frontpage headline in La Presse the morning after. Emotional and huge it was. I spoke to a man in his fifties who had voted for the first time. There was no point in bothering until now, he said, “our votes never counted before’. It’s larger than life,” he added. ‘For the first time in this country, Tunisians can freely tell each other and the world what kind of society we want to be’.
It takes time to count the ballots of a voter percentage above 90. Election results were to be announced Tuesday – now ot’s It’s Wednesday morning and Tunisians are still waiting – but not with abated breath. The Islamic party Ennahda is widely predicted to be the single party carrying most votes. The party is already in negotiations with other parties to form a coalition government.
Concerns about a religious party taking centre stage on the day of voting were overshadowed by elation over an election gone well. Yesterday, Tuesday, 25 October, concerns and discontent were manifested in demonstrations in Tunis. The majority have spoken, Ennahda is their preferred party, but a large minority fear that Tunisia’s long standing separation of state and religion is at risk. They doubt that Ennahda is dedicated to equal rights for men and women and to democracy.
Time will tell. Right now, the rules of the Arab springs’ newest democracy are at play. With Libya’s emotional post-Gadaffi declaration of freedom to boot, history is truly made in this region right now. Who would ever have imagined. The challenges ahead are sure to be many and all international commentators and analysts will in a matter of moments sober up and with surgical precision narrow in on the difficulties that lie ahead, But the morning is fresh, the smell and taste of a new dawn fills the air.
