First Democratically Elected Body To Take Charge In Tunisia
A buoyant Tunisia is to enter a new phase of democratic rule today with the inauguration of its elected constituent assembly, ten months after a popular uprising ended years of dictatorship.
“This event is like a second independence for Tunisia,” said Ahmed Mestiri, an iconic figure in Tunisia’s struggle to gain its 1956 independence from France. “It’s the symbol of the break with the old regime and the establishment of legitimate rule,” said the respected 86-year-old former politician.
A popular uprising that started in December 2010 over unemployment and the soaring cost of living ousted Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in power 23 years and was thought to be one of the world’s most entrenched autocrats. The revolt touched off a wave of pro-democracy protests across the region known as the Arab Spring and Tunisians anchored their revolution last month with an historic election for a constituent assembly.
The 217-member body, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution and picking a new executive, is dominated by Ennahda, a party inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood.
The moderate Islamist group holds 89 seats while the leftist Congress for the Republic Party (CPR) and the Ettakatol party control 29 and 20 seats respectively.
The main parties struck a deal over the weekend to split the three main posts in the new government: Ennahda’s Hamadi Jebali takes the post of prime minister, the CPR’s Moncef Marzouki that of president and Ettakatol’s Mustapha Ben Jaafar the chair of the new constituent assembly.
The assembly’s inaugural session will take place in the ‘bey’ palace in the Bardo area that sheltered the old National Assembly and was where the treaty paving the way for the French protectorate was signed in 1881.
The special session today is expected to confirm the assembly’s president and elect two deputies, a man and a woman. The chamber’s freshly-elected members are also due to adopt a set of internal rules based on a document drafted by the now-dissolved body in charge of political reform after Ben Ali’s ouster.
Challenging the bloc formed by the three main parties, the Progressive Democratic Party and the Democratic Modernist Pole, which have 16 and five seats respectively, will be main opposition forces.
A question mark still hangs however over the Popular Petition, a previously unknown group lead by a London-based millionaire which came out of the woodwork to clinch 26 seats, making it the assembly’s third largest party.
Media entrepreneur Hechmi Haamdi announced on Sunday on his Al Mustakilla TV channel that he was freezing all political activities in Tunisia. Some of the politicians who were elected under the banner of the Popular Petition had already distanced themselves from Haamdi, who gave no instruction to those remaining.
The assembly’s remaining seats are split between independents and smaller parties, including the Communists and a movement headed up by a former Ben Ali minister.
The interim government formed six weeks after Ben Ali was sent fleeing into exile in Saudi Arabia and led by Beji Caid Essebsi will remain in charge until the new executive is sworn in.
Sources: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=471331&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
AFP/Tunis
