Tunisia's revolution tipped the first domino in the Arab world. Its transition to democracy may yet prove a blueprint for other Arab
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Almost three months after the revolution that ended the 23 year reign of Tunisia's aging autocrat Zine el Abidine Ben Ali the atmosphere on the streets of Tunis is one of anxious calm mixed with anticipation. Evidence of the revolution is everywhere; slogans are scrawled across banners and walls, and red and white Tunisian flags flutter in the early spring sunshine. The police who played a central and often brutal role under the former regime are barely visible. In their absence, soldiers, the temporary custodians of public order until the new government is formed, loiter behind barbed wire that's tangled around any meeting place or monument where trouble might or did erupt. For the most part their presence is barely noted as passers-by head to work or to meet friends in the city's cafes.
Now that the barricades have come down and life is returning to normal, assorted revolutionaries, government officials, and hopeful office seekers, have begun the business of building a new democracy. Since Mr. Ben Ali fled on January fourteenth Tunisia has had three interim government's. The first two were short-lived. Many former members of his constitutional democratic rally, the RCD played starring roles prompting further protests and violence.
Any vestiges of the RCD will have to contend with some 70 odd parties expected to register ahead of the July Constituent Assembly election. Communists, socialists, unionists, greens, human rights activists, Islamists, are all clamoring to be heard. A likely frontrunner in a new government is the Liberal Democratic Progressive Party.
Another party that could benefit from this fragmented landscape is Ennahda, Tunisia's main Islamist party, which was banned under Mr. Ben Ali. Party leaders say they want a democratic state in which women will play a full role but there are fears that Ennahda contains some extremist elements. Secularists find their participation in a democracy problematic.
But there are fears the Ennahda contains some extremist elements and that, after almost two decades in exile or in jail, the more moderate members of the party are out of touch with contemporary Tunisia. With its tree-lined boulevards and political slogans drawn from Enlightenment thinkers Tunis seems a cosmopolitan back.
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Almost three months after the revolution that ended the 23 year reign of Tunisia's aging autocrat Zine el Abidine Ben Ali the atmosphere on the streets of Tunis is one of anxious calm mixed with anticipation. Evidence of the revolution is everywhere; slogans are scrawled across banners and walls, and red and white Tunisian flags flutter in the early spring sunshine. The police who played a central and often brutal role under the former regime are barely visible. In their absence, soldiers, the temporary custodians of public order until the new government is formed, loiter behind barbed wire that's tangled around any meeting place or monument where trouble might or did erupt. For the most part their presence is barely noted as passers-by head to work or to meet friends in the city's cafes.
Now that the barricades have come down and life is returning to normal, assorted revolutionaries, government officials, and hopeful office seekers, have begun the business of building a new democracy. Since Mr. Ben Ali fled on January fourteenth Tunisia has had three interim government's. The first two were short-lived. Many former members of his constitutional democratic rally, the RCD played starring roles prompting further protests and violence.
Any vestiges of the RCD will have to contend with some 70 odd parties expected to register ahead of the July Constituent Assembly election. Communists, socialists, unionists, greens, human rights activists, Islamists, are all clamoring to be heard. A likely frontrunner in a new government is the Liberal Democratic Progressive Party.
Another party that could benefit from this fragmented landscape is Ennahda, Tunisia's main Islamist party, which was banned under Mr. Ben Ali. Party leaders say they want a democratic state in which women will play a full role but there are fears that Ennahda contains some extremist elements. Secularists find their participation in a democracy problematic.
But there are fears the Ennahda contains some extremist elements and that, after almost two decades in exile or in jail, the more moderate members of the party are out of touch with contemporary Tunisia. With its tree-lined boulevards and political slogans drawn from Enlightenment thinkers Tunis seems a cosmopolitan back.
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