Juan Cole: Long time human rights activist Moncef Marzouki became Tunisia’s president this week

[pampango]

Long time human rights activist Moncef Marzouki became Tunisia’s president this week. Tunisians wept, at the idea that this principled man, forced into exile by the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, should now himself tread the official red carpet as president of his country.

Marzouki is an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi and a secularist. Some 40 members of parliament, on the left, boycotted the vote that made him interim president, on the grounds that he had compromised too much with the Muslim fundamentalist party, al-Nahda, which has about 40 percent of seats in parliament and which has formed the government. But given that it is the largest party in parliament, al-Nahda was going to form the government one way or another, and would always need secular allies. It is unclear what those who cast blank ballots expect to happen; it isn’t as if al-Nahda can be kept out of the government. Marzouki’s pragmatism is what is needed if the country is going to move to democracy.

Aljazeera English reports: (video report)

http://www.juancole.com/2011/12/top-arab-revolution-stories-the-us-media-ignored.html

[tabatha]

1. Great news. May Tunisia inspire the rest of the Arab world in this as they did to rise up.

[Odin2005]

2. Awesome!!!