Tunisia’s Islamic Ennahdha party called for a coalition with secular groups after saying it has the lead in national balloting, a sign of the strength of long- repressed Islamist movements following revolts in the region.
Ennahdha, banned until six months ago, said it won 40 percent of the National Constituent Assembly’s 217 seats, according to a statement yesterday. The counting of votes in the Oct. 23 elections continued, with preliminary official results showing Ennahdha taking 30 of the 73 seats for which votes were tallied. The party said it will begin consultations to form a unity government and that no group will be excluded from talks.
“Ennahdha has intelligently understood the rules of the political game,” said Sofienne Ben Farhat, an independent political analyst. “This Islamist party, despite the votes that it has gained so far, knows it cannot rule alone. Ennahdha is not the Taliban and Tunisia is not Afghanistan.”
Tunisia’s uprising inspired revolts across the Middle East and North Africa this year, leading to the overthrow of the rulers of Libya and Egypt and unrest in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. Libya’s new rulers have spoken of following Islamic law, while in Egypt the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood has set up a leading political party.
Ennahdha’s strong showing in early results “will give a psychological boost to Islamists everywhere,” said Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. “The fallen regimes have used Islamists as a scarecrow for secularists, non- Muslims and westerners. Fear of Islamists is unfounded.”
Political Inclusion
Against a backdrop of such fear, Ennahdha was quick to send a message of political inclusion.
“We do not want to monopolize power; we call for a coalition or a national unity government,” said Ali Aridhi, a member of the party’s executive bureau. “Ennahdha had serious talks during the electoral campaign and after the elections with secular parties like Ettakatol and the Congress for the Republic.”
Ennahdha’s secretary-general, Hamadi Jbeli, said he is the party’s candidate for the premiership of a new government, state-run Agence Tunis Afrique Presse reported today. “It is the logical thing, given that in all democracies the secretary- general of the party that wins the majority heads the government,” TAP cited him as saying.
Tunisia’s vote for the assembly that will write a new constitution is widely seen as a test of democratization efforts across the region. More than 90 percent of the 4.1 million registered Tunisian voters cast ballots in the elections.
‘Second Spark’
“Tunisia, which has ignited the first spark for the Arab Spring, is now igniting a second spark: the possibility of having moderate Islamists in power,” Tunisian writer and political analyst Salah Attia said by phone. “This used to be a taboo and there were Western reservations about such a thing.”
As Tunisians poured into polling stations, Libya’s new leaders, who had rebelled against the rule of Muammar Qaddafi in February, declared the “liberation” of their country.
In a ceremony, the chairman of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, struck an Islamic tone as he talked about post-Qaddafi Libya, saying any statute that is contrary to the “principles” of Islamic law, or Shariah, is void and that the country will seek a Shariah-compliant banking industry. He later said Libya will be a “moderate” Muslim nation.
Islamists in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country and the second after Tunisia to oust its leader, are expected by many Egyptians to have strong support in parliamentary elections scheduled to start on Nov. 28.
Islam’s ‘Deep Roots’
“Ennahdha’s gains show that Islam has deep roots in this region and that any efforts to uproot it or sideline it will fail,” the Muslim Brotherhood’s Ghozlan said. “The West and secularists in the East must understand this truth and deal with it.”
Bringing Islamists into the political fold would make hardliners among them more moderate, Ghozlan said.
Ennahdha’s leaders say they have a moderate interpretation of Islamic law. The party supports religious freedom for all, they say, and won’t touch Tunisia’s family law, which in the 1950s abolished polygamy and gave women equal rights with men, including for divorce.
Samir Ben Amor, a member of the executive board of the Congress for the Republic, said his party is ready to forge an alliance with Ennahdha as long as that leads to a unity government.
“We welcome the proposal of Ennahdha to form a coalition government, as it is a vital step in the right direction and takes into account the interests of the country at this critical time,” he said.
Economic Outlook
The main task ahead for Ennahdha would be to widen the coalition, analysts say. Already, leaders of the secular Progressive Democratic Party said they won’t participate in the new government and would rather be in the assembly’s opposition.
“We are about to write a constitution and will face economic and developmental difficulties,” Aridhi said. “This requires both technocrats and politicians as ministers. We will form the new government from the parties that won the most seats.”
A smooth transition to democracy may help Tunisia revive an economy that isn’t expected to grow this year, according to the government. Gross domestic product will expand 4 percent in 2012 and 5.2 percent in 2013, more than other Arab countries that experienced uprisings such as Egypt, Syria and Bahrain, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts.
“The Tunisians who cast ballots are primarily interested in seeing economic growth, jobs and security,” Tunisian political writer Zyed Krichen said. “Political and constitutional issues are a lower priority.”