Tunisia looks forward to historic election

As the date of Tunisia's Constituent Assembly election draws near, different political parties are looking at ways to make sure the vote goes off without a hitch.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 11/08/11

A recent Tunis forum explored ways to make the country's upcoming Constituent Assembly elections a success.

Civil society groups, political parties and independent election officials discussed ways to guarantee the democratic transition the Tunisian people are waiting for. The Saturday (August 6th) seminar was organized by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) in conjunction with El Jahedh Forum.

Speakers at the conference called for enhancing dialogue between the varying political factions, creating a national consensus on the goals and for avoiding narrow personal interests. They also stressed the need to distance religious discourse from political and electoral conflicts.

"The electoral process must take place with sufficient neutrality," said Kamel Jendoubi, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE). He noted that this could only be realized by creating the necessary legal frameworks and establishing a culture of dialogue among all parties.

Tunisia's lack of experience in holding democratic elections makes it necessary to invite international observers, according to CSID President Radwan Masmoudi.

"During the election, there will be about 700 ballot boxes," Masmoudi said. "Therefore, the number of international observers must range between 1,000 and 2,000 so that the monitoring process may take place in good circumstances and so that we may ensure a credible, fair and transparent election."

Getting the constituent assembly election to safety requires the dedication of all parties to make this political landmark a success, said Salaheddine Jourchi, director of El Jahedh Forum.

After reviewing the most prominent risks to the election, Jourchi warned of a return of rigging and of the prevalence of financial corruption. He noted that these dangers could only be combated by observing the law and compliance on the part of political parties with regards to their sources of finance. Jourchi also called for avoiding narrow political visions and confronting the phenomenon of regionalism.

The election won't succeed without addressing social problems, especially poverty and unemployment, according to Moncef Yaàkoubi, assistant secretary-general of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) and a member of the Commission for the Realization of Revolution Goals.

Yaàkoubi said that because voter registration was low, he expected turnout for unemployed young people and limited-income families to be low because of the lack of trust between them and the political parties. He said parties focused largely on political and legal issues and avoided social problems.

The responsibility for ensuring the success of the election lies with the government rather than political parties, according to Hamma Hammami, secretary-general of the Communist Labor Party.

"No democratic election can be held while there is security chaos and ambiguous government discourse about the violent acts that take place from time to time in Tunisian cities," he said.

However, Mouldi Riahi, representative of the Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberties (FDTL), was more optimistic, stressing the need to dispel fear and show a sense of hope in order to reassure voters.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/11/feature-01.