Wednesday, October 26, 2011



Tunisian elections

Tunisia went to the polls on Sunday to elect a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution - the first Arab state to do so after the "Arab Spring". Results are slowly trickling in, but it looks like the An-Nahda Party has won a clear majority. An-Nahda, or Renaissance, is a "moderate Islamic" party, a Muslim equivalent of Europe's Christian Democrats. They have been quite clear that they are not seeking to impose a theocracy, but are instead seeking "a democratic society built on Islamic values". And they're happy to cooperate with Tunisia's secular parties to do it.

So, so far it looks like democracy has been the winner. Of course, it is early days yet - but Tunisia's revolution hasn't failed at the first hurdle, and we've got reason to hope that things will turn out alright there.