The quartet is made up of mediators from four Tunisian organisations. For the Muslim Times’ collection to promote secularism in every country of the world
Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet awarded Nobel Peace Prize
By Don Melvin, CNN
Updated 5:39 AM ET, Fri October 9, 2015 | Video Source: CNN
(CNN) The Nobel Peace Prize Committee confounded all expectations Friday — bypassing global figures such as Pope Francis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel — and handed the award to the National Dialogue Quartet for its “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.”
The Quartet is a group dedicated to creating dialogue between disparate elements of Tunisian society.
“The Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest,” the Nobel committee said in a statement. “It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.”
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Good choice to promote pluralism and secularism in all the so called Muslim countries. These emphases can save all Muslims from Islamism and political Islam.
Quoting BBC
The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its role in helping the country’s transition to democracy.
Announcing the prize, the chairman of the Nobel committee said the group had made a “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy” after the 2011 revolution.
They were among some 273 contenders for the prestigious prize.
German chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Francis were among those tipped.
The Tunisian quartet was made up of four organisations: the Tunisian General Labour Union, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, the Tunisian Human Rights League, and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.
It was created in 2013 “when the democratisation process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political and assassinations and widespread social unrest,” said Nobel committee chairman Kaci Kullmann Five.
“It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war,” she said.
“It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.”
She said the Nobel committee hoped that the prize would “contribute towards safeguarding democracy in Tunisia and be an inspiration to all those who seek to promote peace and democracy in the Middle East, North Africa and the rest of the world”.
The surprise winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has played a key role in mediating between the different parties in the country’s post-Arab Spring government.
The Quartet is credited with creating a national dialogue between the country’s Islamist and secular coalition parties amid deepening political and economic crisis in 2013.
Tunisia’s revolution – also known as the Jasmine Revolution – began in late 2010 and led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, followed by the country’s first free democratic elections last year.
Kaci Kullman Five, the chair of the Nobel peace committee, said the Quartet’s role in Tunisia’s democratisation was “directly comparable to the peace conferences mentioned by Alfred Nobel in his will”.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34485865