The Tunisian Constituent Assembly on Sunday approved the country’s new constitution in one of the last steps to establishing full democracy three years after an uprising toppled former Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Before the vote, Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa named a caretaker Cabinet as part of a deal to end a deadlock between ruling Islamist party the Ennahda Movement and the secular opposition until new elections are held later this year.
Tunisia’s new constitution and progress contrasts sharply with the messy transitions in Libya, Egypt and Yemen, all of which are still caught up in turmoil after ousting their long-standing leaders in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
Photo: Reuters
After the historic vote, the red-and-white Tunisian flag was unfurled and assembly deputies embraced, danced and sang inside the chamber in Tunis to celebrate the charter, which has been widely praised for its inclusiveness.
“This constitution was the dream of Tunisians, this constitution is proof of the revival of the revolution, this constitution creates a democratic civil nation,” assembly President Mustapha Ben Jaafar said.
While the new constitution recognizes Islam as the country’s religion, it also enshrines freedom of conscience and belief, as well as equality between the sexes.
As one of the most secular nations in the Arab world, Tunisia has struggled since the 2011 revolt, with divisions over the role of Islam and the rise of ultra-conservative Salafists, who secularists fear would try to roll back liberal rights.
The assassination of two opposition leaders by Islamist militants last year pitched the North African country into crisis and put the Ennahda administration under pressure to step down.
Opposition leaders blamed the moderate Islamist party for going easy on hardline Islamists who promoted the idea of Islamic state based on strict Shariah law.
In what many saw a symbol of compromise, Mongi Rahoui, a deputy from the assassinated leaders’ party, embraced Ennahda hardliner Habib Louz after the vote. The two men had sparred furiously over Islam the week before.
“With this, Tunisia should be a model for the region,” Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi said of the charter.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Tunisia’s constitution, declaring it a “historic milestone” and a model for other countries seeking reform.
Ban “believes Tunisia’s example can be a model to other peoples seeking reforms,” according to a statement released by his spokesman, Martin Nesirky.
However, such reform looks difficult elsewhere in the region.
Two years after former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was toppled, Libya’s congress is deadlocked between Islamists and a nationalist party over the route for transition, a constitution is still undrafted and former militias run amok.
In Cairo, former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi — an Islamist — was deposed by the army last year and jailed, while his Muslim Brotherhood has since been declared a terrorist organization.
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