The presidential election in Tunisia should be taken as a sign that not everything in this part of the world is generating violence, tension, anger and despair. A competitive election process that was relatively free of irregularities, and a generally peaceful climate, might not add up to the kind of news item that attracts some media outlets, but Tunisia’s achievement should be taken as an example of what political change in the Arab world should aspire to.

This doesn’t mean that the country has become a full-fledged democracy – elections are the beginning and end to a process called good governance. People in Tunisia and elsewhere should realize that the hard work of democracy takes place every day, and that elections merely adjust the daily course of events, hopefully for the better.

Tunisia’s new governing team should realize that they have a formidable task ahead of them. Beji Caid Essebsi’s victory will come as a relief to many people, anxious to move away from the course of the last few years, when Islamist politics were on the rise in the country. But Essebsi, a symbol of the “old guard,” should remember that many are also anxious to move away from anything that recalls the decades of authoritarian rule.

Essebsi has talked about restoring the prestige of the state and the best way to do this is to ensure that the concerns of ordinary citizens are a priority. As the country that sparked a wave of popular uprisings in the Arab world, Tunisia has a special role to play in showing other countries that coexistence, promoting economic development, and fighting corruption and injustice aren’t just slogans to be trotted out at election-time.