Post by Flying Horse on Oct 25, 2011 21:07:26 GMT -5
Moderate party promises a broad-based coalition to lead the country.
The Ennahda party was in talks with rivals about forming an interim coalition government to lead the birthplace of the Arab Spring through its transition to democracy. Tunisia has a strong secular tradition, and Ennahda officials promised a broad-based coalition. Seeking to reassure secularists in Tunisia and elsewhere who see a threat to liberal values in the region, party officials said they would share power and would not try to push through radical measures.
"There will be no rupture. There will be continuity because we came to power via democracy, not through tanks," campaign manager Abdelhamid Jlazzi said at party headquarters. "We suffered from dictatorship and repression and now is an historic opportunity to savor the taste of freedom and democracy," he said. Shortly before he spoke, an Ennahda female candidate who does not wear the Islamic head scarf, or hijab, sang along to Lebanese and Tunisian pop songs on a stage. The party says her inclusion is proof of its moderate outlook.
Ennahda, citing its own figures, said the election gave it 40%t of the seats in the assembly which will draft a new constitution, appoint an interim government and set a date for new elections late next year or early in 2013. That tally, if confirmed by the election commission counting the votes, would still require the party to form alliances with secularist parties if it is to have a majority. That is expected to dilute its influence.
Ennahda's leader Ghannouchi was forced into exile in Britain for 22 years because of harassment by Ben Ali's police. A soft-spoken scholar, he dresses in suits and open-necked shirts while his wife and daughter wear the hijab. Ghannouchi is at pains to stress his party will not enforce any code of morality on Tunisian society, or the millions of Western tourists who holiday on its Mediterranean beaches. He models his approach on the moderate Islamism of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ennahda party was in talks with rivals about forming an interim coalition government to lead the birthplace of the Arab Spring through its transition to democracy. Tunisia has a strong secular tradition, and Ennahda officials promised a broad-based coalition. Seeking to reassure secularists in Tunisia and elsewhere who see a threat to liberal values in the region, party officials said they would share power and would not try to push through radical measures.
"There will be no rupture. There will be continuity because we came to power via democracy, not through tanks," campaign manager Abdelhamid Jlazzi said at party headquarters. "We suffered from dictatorship and repression and now is an historic opportunity to savor the taste of freedom and democracy," he said. Shortly before he spoke, an Ennahda female candidate who does not wear the Islamic head scarf, or hijab, sang along to Lebanese and Tunisian pop songs on a stage. The party says her inclusion is proof of its moderate outlook.
Ennahda, citing its own figures, said the election gave it 40%t of the seats in the assembly which will draft a new constitution, appoint an interim government and set a date for new elections late next year or early in 2013. That tally, if confirmed by the election commission counting the votes, would still require the party to form alliances with secularist parties if it is to have a majority. That is expected to dilute its influence.
Ennahda's leader Ghannouchi was forced into exile in Britain for 22 years because of harassment by Ben Ali's police. A soft-spoken scholar, he dresses in suits and open-necked shirts while his wife and daughter wear the hijab. Ghannouchi is at pains to stress his party will not enforce any code of morality on Tunisian society, or the millions of Western tourists who holiday on its Mediterranean beaches. He models his approach on the moderate Islamism of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
© 2011 -- 
Crap, the Name Escapes Me 
