Tunisia, which acted as the vanguard of Arab uprisings, has entered an important phase of consolidation of its revolution. More than 80 percent of the country's registered voters turned up for last week's national election for a new assembly which is to rewrite the constitution, appoint a caretaker government, and prepare for fresh elections. An Islamist party, Ennahda, has emerged as the single largest party in the assembly, though it lacks the majority to form a caretaker government on its own. The biggest secular party, Congress for the Republic (CPR), has won the second place along with the Petition for Justice and Development. The left wing Progressive Democratic Party and a moderate Ettakatol have finished third. What is common among all is a long struggle against the ousted president Zine al-Abedin ben Ali's authoritarian regime. Tunisians had thoughtfully designed the electoral exercise in a way that would allow inclusion of as many parties as possible since they are to draft a new constitution in a year's time, after which fresh polls are to be held. All parties, big or small, have an important contribution to make to the future of their country. The Islamist party's commanding position is causing more concern outside the country than inside. For most in this part of the Islamic world, the Taliban are the poster boys for retrogression, and any rise of Islamist parties alarming. Even CPR leader Moncef Marzouki, who has been in negotiations with Ennahda to form a coalition government, told reporters the latter were neither the devil nor the Taliban. Tunisia, of course, is not Afghanistan. Ennahda is a party of moderate Islamists. In many ways it resembles Turkey, a secular state, which is being ruled for a third term by a moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP). Ennahda has said it wants to model itself along the example of Turkey's AKP. Given the practices in some of the conservative Muslim societies it is only but natural for people, especially for women, to be alarmed at the prospects of Islamists rule. The gender equality issue in fact is a litmus test for any religious-oriented party's credentials. At the same time symbolic measures like the previous government's ban on the hijab do not guarantee progress, either. Civil liberties and genuine gender equality are of essence in any discussion of democratic freedoms. The new government headed by Ennahda may lift the ban on the hijab. That need not be seen as repudiation of modernity, but as an assertion of a democratic right. If women are not to be forced to wear the scarf, those who choose to wear it ought to have the freedom to wear it. Conscious of the sensitivities involved, even before the election results came out Ennahda had assured women that it would respect equality. What Tunisia does as it moves forward towards a constitutional democratic rule, will be closely observed and cited as an example by both supporters and opponents elsewhere in the world. From what has emerged so far, Tunisia is poised to serve as an admirable example for pro-democracy aspirants in the other restive Arab countries. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011
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