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Source: Huffington Post

By Rached Ghannouchi

President of Tunisia’s Ennahdha Party

This post is an edited/updated version of Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi’s October 1, 2014 Lecture at Columbia University’s Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by expressing my delight at delivering my lecture at this great intellectual institution.

I see the situation in the Middle East not as being in crisis but rather as one that is at a crossroads: Between moving towards democracy, development and progress; and the relapse of the Arab Spring, the spread of chaos and terrorism and the return of despotic and corrupt regimes.

A few years ago, the world watched with awe as people flooded the streets of Tunis, Tripoli, Cairo and Sanaa, demanding freedom, dignity and the ouster of repressive, dictatorial regimes. The so-called “Arab exception to democracy” collapsed before the will of the youth. Arabs and Muslims were no longer considered unworthy of democracy; their political culture no longer considered as one rooted in the philosophy of oriental despotism. It became evident that support for repressive regimes by the free world to avoid the risk of power falling into Islamists, is no longer a necessary choice.

Stereotypes broke down and the Arab Spring became a source of inspiration for the people of the world – before facts on the ground changed once again and forces working to counter the Arab revolutions began succeeding. Syria was pushed into civil war, Libya deteriorated into chaos, Egypt returned to military rule.

Why did the map of the Middle East change so fast – from a promising democratic movement to being hotspots of conflicts and tensions? Is the cause the rise of Islamists and their failure to govern and build stable democratic systems? I will present a view that is based on Tunisia’s experience, the last shining candle of the Arab Spring.

Tunisia succeeded in developing a modernist constitution that stipulates freedom of conscience and guarantees the rights of women and minorities. It is the fruit of peaceful cooperation between moderate secularists and moderate Islamists. Tunisia was able to overcome its political crisis in 2013 thanks largely to our commitment to consensus and national dialogue that culminated in an independent, technocratic government tasked with managing the process of holding free and fair elections.

Tunisia is also engaged in a war against terrorism, which began under the Troika government led by Ennahdha, our party of Muslim democrats that on 27 August 2013 designated Ansar al-Sharia as a terrorist organization, arresting dozens of its leaders, dismantling its cells and foiling many of its operations.

Tunisia’s experience shows that democracy is possible in the Middle East as long as its conditions are present. There is no “Arab exception to democracy.” There is no contradiction between Islam and democracy. And dictatorship is not a necessary destiny.

Tunisia was able to embark on this path thanks to a variety of factors that unfortunately were not present at the required level in other countries.

The first factor is the rejection of domination and monopoly of power: Ennahdha Party which won the majority in the elections of the National Constituent Assembly in 2011, refused to dominate power. We instead called for a national unity government after the 2011 elections and were able to form a coalition government with two secular parties – Ettakattol and CPR.

From the beginning, Ennahdha has been committed to the establishment of a political system where secularists and Islamists coexist. That was not always easy, but Ennahdha’s compromises were the principal catalyst for resolving crises and for accelerating the adoption of the Constitution.

Coexistence with secularists was the result of a reformist intellectual process. Our party was the first Islamic movement to adopt democracy in 1981 and to unequivocally announce that it is a civic party that believes in democracy, citizenship and civic values. It is a conviction that did not dither even after the savage wave of repression of the 1990’s in which we were subjected to by Ben Ali’s regime. Ennahdha remained a peaceful movement struggling against dictatorship through democratic means, rejecting violence and extremism. Refusing domination of power and opting for coexistence between secularists and Islamists were two important factors in the success of the Tunisian model.

The next important factor in Tunisia’s success is the adoption of what we call “consensus” politics. This is based on our belief that during transitional periods, ruling with 50% +1 majority does not lead to a stable political system; what is needed is as wide a consensus as possible between the main political trends whether in the majority or minority.

That is why we wanted a constitution that doesn’t just represent a simple majority but the widest majority possible. This principle of consensus helped save Tunisia from many of the crises that it faced because we focused instead on a national dialogue that brought together all the political trends and views represented by 22 parties, with no exclusions.

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