Skip to footer

An Arab template for peaceful handovers of power

With the passing of its first freely elected president, Tunisia quickly planned to elect a new leader, again setting a model for a region badly in need of democracy.

|
Reuters
Interim President Mohamed Ennaceur arrives in his office in Tunis, Tunisia, July 25.
  • By the Monitor's Editorial Board

In an Arab world long on one-man rule but short on peaceful handovers of power after an election, this moment should not go unnoticed: On Thursday, the first freely elected president of Tunisia, Béji Caïd Essebsi, died. On the same day, under a democratic constitution, the head of the legislature temporarily took over the office. Plans to elect a new president are already in motion.

No protests, no gunfire, no military coup.

Tunisia is again a template for other Arab nations in how to avoid the trap of personality-based or militaristic rule and the upheavals they bring. After the 2011 Arab Spring, it was the only Middle East or North African country to topple a dictator and then lock in basic freedoms and fair elections. Now after eight years – a short time to root any new democracy – it has passed a key test by preparing a peaceful transition.

To put some context around this feat, recall that Syria, Libya, and Yemen are in civil wars, Egypt has returned to military dictatorship, and many Arab monarchies still exist. Algeria and Sudan are in difficult transitions from authoritarian rule. Meanwhile Iraq, despite the strong influence of Iran, can claim similar peaceful transitions.  

Since adopting a new constitution in 2014, Tunisia has had successive prime ministers. But a central figure has been President Essebsi, whose political pedigree extends back to the country’s six decades of one-man rule. After being elected in 2014, he stepped up to the task by reducing the power of the Islamist-inspired party Ennahda, and presiding over many reforms, notably for women, as well as helping launch a “war on corruption.” He was called “the father of consensus.”

Yet Tunisia, which was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, may face other tests in the years ahead, perhaps even in how it conducts the coming election. Islamic militants still threaten violence. And the economy has not improved since 2011, lessening popular support for democracy.

Yet it has laid many cornerstones to sustain elected government. Now it is adding another one with a transition to a new president. This will help further cement the idea in the Arab world that a free and equal people can pick their leaders without losing their heritage or culture.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to An Arab template for peaceful handovers of power
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2019/0726/An-Arab-template-for-peaceful-handovers-of-power
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe