Image via Wikipedia
Since the ouster of Tunisia’s former leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in December 2010, there has been heated debate among political circles in the United States and elsewhere regarding the future direction of the north African nation. However, in the latest election whose results are to be announced on Sunday, Ennahda, an Islamist political party is about to claim victory (Amara, 2011). The “Arab Spring”, a contemporary connotation that has become a subject of discussion in global politics started with the self-immolation of unemployed student Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17, 20010 followed by a civil uprising that toppled the former Tunisian strongman on December 28, 2010 consequently leading to his self-exile in Saudi Arabia. Like Libya’s Qaddafi, Ben Ali retarded the social, political, and economic sectors of the most liberal Arab nation, Tunisia. Despite awaiting victory to reclaim the governing of the country from a contumacious family that held onto power for decades, Ennahda has promised not to ban women in bikinis; it has promised not to introduce Islamic banking; and it has promised to uphold the constitution of the nation (Amara, 2011). Derived from the 19th Century Islamic resistance in the Middle East-Ennahda or An-nahda-stands for renaissance or reawakening. According to Rohr (2011), the belief that the party may resort to a theocracy is an exaggeration as Ennahda looks to Turkey as a model. In global perspectives, there is the fear that the party may drag the nation to undemocratic forms of governance.
As Rohr (2007) contends, the President of the United States has vested executive authority as stipulated in the first section of the Second Article of the US Constitution. However, in a country like Tunisia, as has been during the reign of Ben Ali, the president, his family, and his closest friends abused the constitution of that nation due little regard for the law. The constitutionality of the US and her allies getting involved in the Tunisian political landscape rests on safeguarding their national interests.
References
Amara, T. (2011). Tunisian Islamists await word on election win. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/us-tunisia-idUSTRE79Q32V20111027
Rohr, J. A. (2007). Ethics and comparative administration. Public Integrity, 10(1), 65–74.
Rohr, M.V. (2011). Why Tunisians voted for the Islamists. Retrieved from http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,794133,00.html
No comments:
Post a Comment