• Tunisia’s Islamist-led government rejects laws to enforce religion
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[release][img]http://images.alarabiya.net/a9/9a/640x392_49776_175612.jpg[/img] [i]Rachid Ghannouchi (R) leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, smiles as he meets his supporters after the announcement of the country's election results, outside his headquarters in Tunis Oct. 27, 2011. (Reuters) [/i] [b]Tunisia’s Islamist-led government will focus on democracy, human rights and a free-market economy in planned changes to the constitution, effectively leaving religion out of the text it will draw up, party leaders said.[/b] The government, due to be announced next week, will not introduce sharia or other Islamic concepts to alter the secular nature of the constitution in force when Tunisia’s Arab Spring revolution ousted autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January. “We are against trying to impose a particular way of life,” Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi, 70, a lifelong Islamist activist jailed and exiled under previous regimes, told Reuters. Tunisian and foreign critics of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that won 41.7 percent of Tunisia’s first free election on Oct. 23, have voiced fears it would try to impose religious principles on this relatively secular Muslim country. Interviews with politicians and analysts revealed a consensus that the new assembly, the first to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings, will focus on reassuring Tunisian voters, and the foreign tourists and investors vital to its economy. All parties agreed to keep the first article of the current constitution which says Tunisia’s language is Arabic and its religion is Islam. “This is just a description of reality,” Ghannouchi said. “It doesn’t have any legal implications. “There will be no other references to religion in the constitution. We want to provide freedom for the whole country,” said the Islamist leader, who will not take any official role in the new government. The new constitution is due in about a year. No law to promote faith Ghannouchi’s reformist Islamist writings in the 1980s and 1990s helped influence Turkey’s current mix of Islam and democracy, and he said his 22 years of exile in London helped him see the importance of civil society in influencing politics. Like Turkey, Tunisia had decades of secularist dictatorship before evolving into a democracy where moderate Islamists – dubbed “Muslim Democrats” in a take-off of Europe’s Christian Democrats – have emerged as a strong political force. “Law by itself doesn’t change reality,” Ghannouchi said at Ennahda’s headquarters, a six-story building abuzz with the excitement of open politics after decades of dictatorship. “There shouldn’t be any law to try to make people more religious,” said Ghannouchi, whose party has pledged to continue to allow alcohol and Western dress here and pursue economic policies favoring tourism, foreign investment and employment. The Islamist leader said he interprets sharia, the ill-defined and often confusing complex of Islamic teachings and laws, as a set of moral values for individuals and societies rather than a strict code to be applied to a country’s legal system. “Egypt says sharia is the main source of its law, but that didn’t prevent (deposed President Hosni) Mubarak from being a dictator,” he said, noting the explicit reference to sharia in Cairo’s constitution. Samir Ben Amor, a leader of the secularist Congress for the Republic party due to join a coalition with Ennahda and another non-religious party, agreed there was no dispute about maintaining the brief reference to Islam in the first article. He said there was wide agreement among political parties to strengthen democracy in the constitution by referring to international human rights conventions. “We want a liberal regime,” he said. Although all parties agreed to defend Tunisian women’s rights, some of the most advanced in the Arab world, Ben Amor said they could not agree to some feminists’ demands to have the country’s liberal Personal Status Code written into the constitution. “No constitution in the world has that,” he explained. These rights would be protected through legislation, he added. The main area of disagreement seems to be whether Tunisia should opt for a parliamentary system, which Ghannouchi said he preferred after seeing British politics at first hand, or the French-style mix of a directly elected president and parliament preferred by the other parties. “The parliamentary system can lead to political instability and, coming out of a dictatorship, we don’t think we can risk that,” Ben Amor said. Radwan Masmoudi, Tunisian-born director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) in Washington, said last month’s elections showed the country had opted for an “evolutionary revolution” that avoided radical changes. “Tunisians agree on almost everything,” he said in the CSID office here. “They want to keep their identity as Arab and Muslim but not live in a theocracy. “I think Tunisia can pave the way for other Arab countries to build a true democracy that is fully compatible with Islam.” Masmoudi said the realities of coalition parties and the probable need for a two-thirds majority to approve the constitution would force all parties to seek a broad consensus.[/release][url]http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/05/175612.html[/url]
If it continues this way it seems that Tunisia might be able to sort it self out properly and end up with an actual democracy at the end of all this. I hope it goes as well for the other countries "partaking" in the Arab spring.
It's a shame Tunisia's revolution has largely gotten no press, it's by far the biggest success of the arab spring.
Yes, some feel-good news!
Good. A state separate from religion is a good state for democracy
This is what should have happened in Libya, but didn't.
hot damn that's great
And a non-secular nation rises from the ashes of a once-oppressive religious administration.
[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33144859]This is what should have happened in Libya, but didn't.[/QUOTE] Don't count your chickens before they hatch
this calls for a celebration [img]http://tahoebowl.com/photos/ist2_4055879-cocktail-party.jpg[/img] [img]http://limosalive.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/chicago_party_dancing_crowd.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.great-birthday-party-ideas.com/image-files/adult-beach-party.jpg[/img]
wooo! arab spring break!
*applauds, sheds a tear*
[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33144859]This is what should have happened in Libya, but didn't.[/QUOTE] Wait for some sort of election before saying that. At the moment only a bunch of unelected revolutionaries have made decisions.
Who is prefacing every article with "Tunisia's Islamist government"? They have a minority government out of an election they won less than 2 weeks ago, and already they're being called an "Islamist government"? For fuck's sake, nearly every other party with a decent amount of seats is a secular/progressive party.
[QUOTE=SomTervo;33144800]It's a shame Tunisia's revolution has largely gotten no press, it's by far the biggest success of the arab spring.[/QUOTE] I would say the fact that the news coming out of Tunisia has been quiet is a good thing. They seem poised to make a smooth transition to democracy.
Now the hard part: Maintaining said Democracy, and avoiding taking the path that Turkey is on; a slow slip towards Islamic Theocracy.
Hopefully it stays that way. Religion is way too outdated to be used as a government model. All it does is introduce stupid laws and restrictions.
Finally, a voice of reason in the maelstrom of madness. Sharia law just ain't right, so it's good that Tunisia isn't enforcing it.
[QUOTE=thisispain;33145268]this calls for a celebration [img]http://tahoebowl.com/photos/ist2_4055879-cocktail-party.jpg[/img] [img]http://limosalive.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/chicago_party_dancing_crowd.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.great-birthday-party-ideas.com/image-files/adult-beach-party.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] I can only see one non-white person in that collection of pictures and he is behind an alcoholic beverage. What did you Google to get these pictures? [editline]6th November 2011[/editline] Its like where's waldo for minorities.
Who the fuck thought that they would install some kind of an evil muslim faschist regime with half of the government being Liberals. Still, some people were predicting idiocy like that. Edit: But I wonder how people will like them being actual commuslims now :v:
The title confused me at first The "to" could mean the act of rejecting is a way of enforcing it, instead of the meaning it has here (the laws are a way of enforcing it)
I loved Tunisia's move on the aspect of being secular. Loved it. Great people.
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;33145988]Who is prefacing every article with "Tunisia's Islamist government"? They have a minority government out of an election they won less than 2 weeks ago, and already they're being called an "Islamist government"? For fuck's sake, nearly every other party with a decent amount of seats is a secular/progressive party.[/QUOTE] Their largest party by far, al-Nahda* [I]is[/I] technically Islamist, and they [I]do[/I] constitute the heaviest part of government by far despite "only" having 42% of seats. The runner up, liberal/secular al-Mu'tamar, has 13%, and the rest are hardly even worth mentioning, so there [I]are[/I] no other individual parties with a significant number of seats. Despite al-Nahda not being the majority of government, they're going to be the most significant political driving force. As for al-Nahda being Islamist, "Islamism" is a very broad and loose term. It simply means "political Islam". It'd cover anything from a political system implementing a strict and oppressive interpretation of Sharia, to a moderate system distancing itself from Sharia but using Islamic values to form legislations. Al-Nahda belong to the latter group. * Or "Ennahda". English-language sources seem to prefer to write it as it's pronounced (Ennahda) rather than how it actually should be transliterated (al-Nahda). I prefer the latter.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;33145186]And a non-secular nation rises from the ashes of a once-oppressive religious administration.[/QUOTE] Herp derp their former president was actually secular. [editline]6th November 2011[/editline] Also "Islamist" is a non-word. It means [I]absolutely nothing[/I].
[QUOTE=Anonim;33148745]Their largest party by far, al-Nahda* [I]is[/I] technically Islamist, and they [I]do[/I] constitute the heaviest part of government by far despite "only" having 42% of seats. The runner up, liberal/secular al-Mu'tamar, has 13%, and the rest are hardly even worth mentioning, so there [I]are[/I] no other individual parties with a significant number of seats. Despite al-Nahda not being the majority of government, they're going to be the most significant political driving force. As for al-Nahda being Islamist, "Islamism" is a very broad and loose term. It simply means "political Islam". It'd cover anything from a political system implementing a strict and oppressive interpretation of Sharia, to a moderate system distancing itself from Sharia but using Islamic values to form legislations. Al-Nahda belong to the latter group. * Or "Ennahda". English-language sources seem to prefer to write it as it's pronounced (Ennahda) rather than how it actually should be transliterated (al-Nahda). I prefer the latter.[/QUOTE] Well yes, but at least three other parties with recognizable amounts of seats are secular: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Forum_for_Labour_and_Liberties[/url] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_for_the_Republic[/url] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Democratic_Party_%28Tunisia%29[/url] That's at least 31% of the constituent assembly controlled by secular groups, so don't tell me that's 'nothing'.
Most of the minor parties with any seats at all are also liberal, secular or social-democratic, so you can actually add another percent or two to that.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;33145186]And a non-secular nation rises from the ashes of a once-oppressive religious administration.[/QUOTE] The old regime wasn't trying to control religion, and was as secular as the new guys, the revolution there was started for economic reasons to start with.
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;33154618]Well yes, but at least three other parties with recognizable amounts of seats are secular: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Forum_for_Labour_and_Liberties[/url] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_for_the_Republic[/url] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Democratic_Party_%28Tunisia%29[/url] That's at least 31% of the constituent assembly controlled by secular groups, so don't tell me that's 'nothing'.[/QUOTE] Usually, a large coalition of small parties such as this will generally have difficulty cooperating. In essence, you could say that the "sum is less than its parts", and the largest constituent party in a minority government will still have disproportionate political impact. But I do see the point you raised, in that "Islamist" is a misleading term to use in media (as it often is, but especially for Tunisia's government).
I love this world.
Aren't the tunian islamists essentially an islamic version of christian democrats?
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