Tunisia continues to set a standard for real reform

In about a week from now, the formation of the new government of Tunisia will be finalised. Its leadership has already said that the administration will focus on democracy, human rights and a free-market economy, and will effectively leave religion out of the text it will draw up in the new Constitution, which is due to be finalised in about a year.

This sounds like a typical liberal, western-style democracy in which the state and religion are separated. Not incidentally, this message is coming from the Islamist party, Ennahda, which won a solid mandate (41.7 per cent of the vote) in the recent election, the first poll since the January ousting of the long-time dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

In the eyes of many in the western world, “moderation” and “Islamist” are two contradictory terminologies and concepts. But Tunisia is trying to prove the West, as well as other doubters, wrong. And from the look of it, they could very well do just that.

Part of the reason why the western world fears Islamists has to do with the fact that they lump all Islamists into one group. They do not try to understand local dynamics or the political context of the areas in question. Many of us allow political slogans to get the better of us, not trying to comprehend that all politics, essentially, is local. That has always been the problem on the part of the literalists. Indeed, few Islamist parties around the world campaign on the promise to chop off the hands of convicted thieves.

Many in western governments officially welcome the election result in Tunisia and applaud the first free and fair election the country has seen in years. But behind the welcome is a “let’s wait and see” attitude to how the new administration unfolds.

But let’s not forget that many in the so-called free world used to look to Ben Ali – and the now jailed former Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak – as both “secular” and “moderate” leaders. But these are convenient labels that say nothing about the manner in which these men ruled their respective nations.

The “Arab Spring” has given the backers of these former authoritarian regimes a big black eye. Switching sides during the course of the protests and uprisings cannot erase the past. Besides quashing secular opposition, these dictators also suppressed religious opposition, namely the Islamists. Among the people in the region who have developed a strong political consciousness are the women – and they form one of the key support groups of Tunisia’s Islamist party. Aside from seeing their male relatives beaten and tortured, many of these women turned to politics after experiencing job discrimination. And their presence in the election was a statement in itself: loud and clear, they are saying that they are here to stay.

The challenge is not whether Tunisian Islamists can resist the temptation to become another Taleban, but how to balance the largely French-inspired politics of civil rights with the aspirations of the country’s devout Muslims. So far, it appears that the transitional authorities in Tunisia are doing the right thing by making politics inclusive as far as possible. Being sensitive to gender politics is also a good thing, and has placed the Islamists in a positive light.

But let’s hope that the Islamists are not doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. As revolutionary movements of the past have shown, the end results don’t always mean greater equality for all.