Washington Post: In a world in crisis, Tunisia is moving forward with its democracy

The Washington Post hailed the democratic experience in Tunisia, saying that this small North African country remains the "unique" success story that resulted from the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions.

Although the world, experts say, lives in an era of "declining democracy," Tunisia is the only country in the Arab Spring 2011 to topple its dictator and maintain the ensuing democratic transition. .

Within a month, Tunisia held three elections, the last of which took place a few weeks ago and brought Qais Said, a retired law professor who became an independent politician from outside party institutions, to power after sweeping the second round of presidential elections.

Said Tharoor considered Said's victory a "clear message expressing voter dissatisfaction" with the situation, and quoted his colleague in the Washington Post journalist Sudarsan Raghavan, who wrote last month that Tunisia "highlighted its unique position in the Arab world ruled by kings, tyrants and powerful families."

Raghavan added that millions of Tunisians went to the polls to choose between two candidates from outside the political establishment, in the run-off to the presidential elections in the country.

In those elections, he said, the Tunisian people showed "contempt for the political establishment for its inability to solve the crisis of high unemployment, high prices and lack of opportunities that ignited the revolution."

Challenges
However, Ishan Tharoor believes that Qais Said will not be able alone to begin to address the issues that led him to power, noting that the formation of the new government may take some time.

The results of Tunisia's legislative elections resulted in Ennahda, which the Washington Post article describes as a moderate Islamist party, winning a majority of the seats in parliament (52 out of 217 seats), but it is still preparing for difficult negotiations to form a government.

Ennahdha spokesman Ziad al-Athari appeared confident of his party's ability to overcome difficulties and form a government. The Washington Post says Adhari has emerged as a possible candidate for prime minister.

Analysts point out that there are "unique" factors that make Tunisia different from the rest of the countries hit by the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions, including its relatively small size.

Perhaps the first of these factors - in the opinion of HA. Heller, a senior researcher at the London-based Royal United Service Institute, said Tunisia enjoys independent decision-making in conducting its political process without intense external interference.

The second factor is that political power is divided in Tunisia so that no one can hope to emerge as a winner of an undefeated game. He said Tunisians in this sense are the winners again.

Despite all of the above, Tunisia is facing a number of structural problems: the deteriorating economy, high food prices, lack of jobs, and the popular aspiration for wider social services.

Tharoor attributes Ziad Adhari as saying that the Tunisian people are still awaiting the economic return of their revolution and are grim about the government's performance in efforts to improve their daily lives.

Mr Tharoor concludes his article by saying that the main challenge is to prove that democracy leads to prosperity and that freedom is as important as providing more economic opportunities and jobs for citizens.