Global News Post: Tunisia

Moderate Islamist Party Wins Most Seats in Tunisia's National Assembly Polls

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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">TUNIS<span>  </span>(NNN-XINHUA) -- Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party, has won the most seats, 90, in elections to the 217-member national Constituent Asembly, which is tasked with writing a new Constitution for the country, according to the official election results released here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The party obtained 41.47 per cent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the first in the country since the ouster of former president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, election commission chief Kamel Jendoubi told a press conference Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ennahda was followed by the leftist Congress for the Republic (CPR) headed by Moncef Marzouki, with 30 seats, and Mustapha Ben Jaafar's Ettakatol with 21 seats, Jendoubi said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The CPR and Ettakatol, which obtained 13.82 per cent and 9.68 per cent of the votes respectively, have already voiced their willingness to join Ennahdha in setting up a popular unity government. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Talks have already started as to the composition of the new government which will be announced no earlier than Nov 9.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Hundreds of Tunisian people marched in the town of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sidi   Bouzid</st1:place></st1:city> after election results were announced late Thursday, protesting the canceling of seats obtained by Hechmi Hamdi's Aridha Chaabia in six electoral districts. The party was accused of violating the campaign financing regulations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Around 7.3 million eligible voters elected the 217-member assembly tasked with drafting the country's new Constitution yo pave the way for legislative and presidential elections within 12 months.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">From a radical party preaching the Islamic sharia law, Ennahdha has spent the past 23 years in exile and mellowed its policies to suit the evolving Tunisian mindset.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Local observers and analysts consider that the party's victory will mark a new era in Tunisian history, signalling a major shift towards a more conservative approach to political life in a country formerly reputed for its staunch secularism and pro-Western mentality.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tunisians have voted conservatively amid an economic crisis and uncertainty as to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s future after the ouster of former strongman, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, on Jan 14, opting for a moderate religious party as well as center-left and centrist parties while shunning independents, hard left-wing parties and more overtly secularist parties. -- NNN-XINHUA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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Moderate Islamist Party Wins Most Seats in Tunisia's National Assembly Polls

TUNIS (NNN-XINHUA) -- Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party, has won the most seats, 90, in elections to the 217-member national Constituen...

Islamic Party Claims Victory in Tunisia Election

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</div><div class="byline" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">By Lisa Bryant<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i></b><span class="location"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">from <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunis</st1:place></st1:state></span></i></span><b><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Tunisia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> turns to creating a new constitution and interim government, as election results on Tuesday confirmed a first-place finish by the moderate Islamic party Ennahdha.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="instruction" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 15.65pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
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Two days after casting their ballots in a peaceful, ebullient vote, Tunisians are back to work Tuesday. Or at least some of them. Outdoor cafes are packed with women and men. Streets are snarled with honking traffic.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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University student Hamdi Bin Jebrellah, sporting jeans and sunglasses, is pleased - but not surprised - at the election results.<br />
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Bin Jebrellah voted for the Islamist Ennahdha party, which captured the most votes. He says he is glad Islam is now part of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s politics. He sees <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turkey</st1:place></st1:country-region> as a good model for his country.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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One middle aged woman, who only gave her first name, Emla, voted for a leftist party. But she is still satisfied with the outcome.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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Emla says what is essential is the elections were democratic and transparent, and that voter turnout was high. She says democracy is about accepting the results. <br />
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International observers have hailed <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s elections for a new Constituent Assembly.  Just as <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region> inspired the Arab Spring uprisings, some believe its first democratic vote may be another model.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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But Fedia Trabelsi, wearing a maroon hijab and black gloves, is among those who did not go to the polls.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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Trabelsi says even if she is veiled, she is against Ennahdha. She believes in a separation of religion and politics.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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The new assembly is tasked to write <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s next constitution.  Eric Goldstein, a deputy director for Human Rights Watch, says that alone will be a major challenge.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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"Writing a constitution is a huge job because it's going to be the roadmap for laws that are going to be revised and the way the people relate to their government. How much presidential system, how much parliamentary," said Goldstein.<br />
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The assembly must also appoint an interim government to run daily affairs. And it must deal with the many problems that fueled <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s January revolution - including the faltering economy and high unemployment. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Islamic Party Claims Victory in Tunisia Election

By Lisa Bryant from Tunis Tunisia turns to creating a new constitution and interim government, as election results on Tuesday confirme...

Islamist Party Appears Victorious in Tunisia's Election

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</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tunisia</span></i></st1:country-region><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">'s moderate Islamist party appears headed for victory in Sunday's election, the first free election resulting from the Arab Spring, which has seen despotic governments topple across North Africa and the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Although official results have yet to be announced, provisional results give the Ennahdha party about 40 percent of the vote. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Voters were electing a 217-seat constituent assembly that will draw up a new constitution. The assembly will be charged with determining the system of government and ensuring civil liberties. In the meantime, it also will appoint a caretaker government. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A large turnout has been reported. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s independent electoral commission said more than 90 percent of the 4.1 million registered voters cast ballots. They were allowed to choose among multiple political parties for the first time since independence in 1956. In previous votes, only ruling party members were allowed to run.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was among thousands of international and domestic observers. He called the vote not only free and fair, but exemplary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a message of congratulations on Sunday, said the election is a significant development in the democratic transition of the region. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Islamist Ennahdha party already has taken steps to form a coalition that would model a government after the secular, pluralist democracy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turkey</st1:place></st1:country-region>, whose ruling [AKP] party also has an Islamic identity.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Election observers predict that women could capture nearly one third of the seats in the constituent assembly, a far larger proportion than in any Arab country.<span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There is concern, though, that Ennahdha could reverse some of the progress in women's rights that has been made in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This first vote of the Arab Spring came a little more than nine months after Tunisians overthrew longtime dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S. President Barack Obama has offered his congratulations, saying <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:country-region></st1:place> has "changed the course of history" and "inspired the world." ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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Islamist Party Appears Victorious in Tunisia's Election

Tunisia 's moderate Islamist party appears headed for victory in Sunday's election, the first free election resulting from the Ara...

Large Turnout in Tunisia's First Democratic Polls

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tunisia</span></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">, whose revolution sparked the "Arab Spring" revolts across North Africa and the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle  East</st1:place>, is again making history, holding its first-ever democratic election. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tunisians are turning out in large numbers, and expressing excitement and pride at the chance to choose among multiple political parties for the first time since independence in 1956. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">More than 100 parties are fielding candidates in Sunday's election. In previous votes, only ruling party candidates were allowed to run.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This is the first vote of the Arab Spring, a little more than nine months after Tunisians overthrew longtime dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. If the poll produces an effective government, it could emerge as a model for the region.<span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Voters are electing a 217-seat Constituent Assembly to be given the tasks of naming an interim government and drawing up a new constitution for the North African country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Observers predict the moderate Islamist party Ennahdha will win the biggest share of the vote, but will not capture a majority. The party is already in talks to form coalitions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ennahdha's leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, joined a long queue with his family to vote in the El Manzah suburb of the capital Sunday. Ghannouchi spoke about the birth of democracy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Polling stations are being guarded by police and soldiers, and thousands of domestic and foreign election observers and journalists are on hand to witness the vote.---</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> VOA News</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Large Turnout in Tunisia's First Democratic Polls

Tunisia , whose revolution sparked the "Arab Spring" revolts across North Africa and the Middle East , is again making history, ...