Tunisians vote in first Arab Spring election

TUNIS, Tunisia?? Tunisians began voting at dawn Sunday in their first truly free elections, the culmination of a popular uprising that ended decades of authoritarian rule and set off similar rebellions across the Middle East.

Voters are electing members of an assembly that will appoint a new government and then write a new constitution, definitively turning the page on the 23-year presidency of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown by a monthlong uprising on Jan. 14 stirred by anger at unemployment, corruption and repression.

The party expected to come out on top, Ennahda, is a moderate Islamist party whose victory, especially in a comparatively secular society like Tunisia, could have wide implications for similar religious parties in the region. The party was banned under Ben Ali.

The unexpected revolution in this quiet Mediterranean country ? cherished by European tourists for its sandy beaches and desert oases ? set off a series of similar uprisings against entrenched leaders, an event now being called the Arab Spring. If Tunisia's elections produce an effective new government they will serve as an inspiration to pro-democracy advocates across the region, including in next-door Libya, where longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was killed last week by rebel forces.

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The campaign season has been marked by controversies over advertising, fears over society's religious polarization and concerns about voter apathy, but in the run-up to the vote a mood of optimism and excitement in the capital was palpable.

"This is the first time in my life I've truly voted. It is something extraordinary," said Turkane Seklani, a 37-year-old casting her ballot in polling station set up in the Bourguiba High School in Tunis. The sun was still rising as she cast her ballot soon after 7 a.m., but the capital was already humming with political activity.

She said she voted for center-left party Ettakatol, because its leader, a doctor who opposed Ben Ali in the years before the uprising, "is a good man and I find him honest and with integrity."

'I'm an optimist'
The mother of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young man whose self-immolation last December triggered the Tunisian revolt, said the election was a victory for dignity and freedom.

"Now I am happy that my son's death has given the chance to get beyond fear and injustice," Manoubia Bouazizi told Reuters. "I'm an optimist, I wish success for my country.

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The ballot is an extra-large piece of paper bearing the names and symbols of the parties fielding a candidate in each district. It's a cacophony of choice in a country effectively under one-party rule since independence from France in 1956, and where the now-popular Islamist party Ennahda was long banned.

There are 7.5 million potential voters, though only 4.4 million of them, or just under 60 percent, are actually registered. People can vote with their identity cards but only at certain stations, which some fear may cause confusion during the polls.

Voters in each of the country's 33 districts, six of which are abroad, have a choice of between 40 and 80 electoral lists, consisting of parties and independent candidates.

Coalitions and compromises
A proportional representation system will likely mean that no political party will dominate the assembly, which is expected to be divided roughly between the Ennahda party, centrist parties and leftist parties, requiring coalitions and compromises during the writing of the constitution.

Ennahda has been at pains to assuage the concerns of secularists and Western powers, fielding several women candidates including one who does not wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, and promising not to undermine women's freedoms.

Fundamentalist Islamists known as Salafists have attacked a cinema and a TV station in recent months over artistic material deemed blasphemous. Ennahda says they have nothing to do with them, but liberals do not believe them.

At a final election rally on Friday, Suad Abdel-Rahim, the female candidate who does not wear a veil, said Ennahda would protect women's gains.

But illustrating the party's contradictions, many of the books on sale on the fringes of the rally were by Salafist writers who believe women should be segregated from men in public and that elections are un-Islamic.

An Ennahda victory would be the first such success in the Arab world since Hamas won a 2006 Palestinian vote. Islamists won a 1991 Algerian election the army annulled, provoking years of bloody conflict.

Interactive: Tunisia protests, country profile (on this page)

Ennahda's fortunes could have a bearing on Egyptian elections set for next month in which the Muslim Brotherhood, an ideological ally, also hopes to emerge strongest.

In the 10 months since the uprising, Tunisia's economy and employment, part of the reason for the revolution in the first place, has only become worse as tourists and foreign investors have stayed away.

Many have expressed indifference about the elections out of frustration that new jobs have yet to appear and life has not improved since the revolution.

The government says 40,000 police and soldiers are being deployed to prevent any protests escalating into violence. Shopkeepers say people have been stockpiling milk and bottled water in case unrest disrupts supplies.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45004356/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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