Ilyas Saliba
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Tunisian Transition and the Parliamentary Elections

11/15/2014

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Picture
Election office in a school in Gammarth, Tunis on election day

In the last week of October I went to Tunis in order to experience the second elections after the ousting of the dictator Ben-Ali in 2011. The most important thing first: According to international and domestic observers the parliamentary elections met domestic and international standards and can be considered free, fair and meaningfully democratic. 

During my days in Tunis I spoke to different stakeholders and observers in Tunis from civil society activists to diplomats and election observers. Despite the different perspectives their take on the elections was mainly positive, not least due to the fact that the electoral process went so smoothly and the much feared political violence or contestation of the results did not occur.

However turing away from the elections itself to the broader developments in Tunisia since the fall of Ben-Ali the views widely varied with regards to the evaluation of hitherto accomplishments and future propects of the transition process. Whereas some actors I talked to highlighted the inclusive and consesus-seeking nature of the process and mentioned the crucial role of civil society, others critically noted the polarization of political discourse, the predominance of backdoor politics and the return of ancient regime personel on the political stage.

Picture
tunisian voter at the ballot box
Picture
father with his son on the way to cast his vote

In the running up towards the elections I have written two pieces trying to analyze the unique tunisian trajectories during the last four years. The first one for the Blog Al-Qantara has been dedicated to analyze the process up until the elections and sketch out some of the problematic areas that still remained untouched. A second, more policy oriented piece for the political IPG journal -run by the Friedrich Ebert foundation- has focussed on the challenges ahead for any new tunisian government in place and identified how Europe may help Tunisia in its transition and contribute to consolidate democracy in Tunisia.

  • Der Tunesische Sonderweg – Oped on IPG Internationale politik und Gesellschaft (October 2014) available online (german only)
  • The model student faces difficult tasks – Oped on Al Qantara (October 2014) available online (in german, english and arabic)
Unfortunately the first piece is only vailable in german. The Second one has been translated into english and arabic. However I have decided to shift away from publishing non-academic opeds and blog contributions exclusively within the german media outleds. Consequently on the bucket-list for next year are contributions in english newspapers or blogs.

Picture
young tunisians discussing the elections after they voted over a coffee
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    Ilyas Saliba

    is a researcher and PhD student in political science, freelance journalist and photographer interested in Democracy, Transition, Authoritarianism and Security especially in the MIddle East and North Africa.

    From time to time I will publish links, comments and thoughts relating to my research, events, current political issues and the life as a PhD student on this Blog.

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