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23 Oct 2011 12:12

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World: Not like Ben Ali’s rule: Tunisian elections draw massive crowds

  • then Elections during the rule of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali generally drew a fairly small number of people, due to the fact that many believed that the results were pre-determined.
  • now Ten months after the end of Ben Ali’s regime, today’s elections have drawn huge numbers of people, with lines spreading far beyond the polling booths. source
  • » Not without some controversy: A notable Islamist figure in the country, Rachid Ghannouchi, was heckled as he came out of the voting booth today. “You are a terrorist and an assassin! Go back to London,” one shouted. Ghannouchi, the leader of the moderate Ennahda party, spent over two decades in Britain, exiled from the country where he was once imprisoned for his political views. He returned earlier this year, and his party is expected to do well today.

30 Jan 2011 21:00

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World: Democracy in Tunisia doesn’t come without understandable fears

  • freedom In the wake of the ouster of Ben Ali, certain ousted groups have come out of the woodwork in Tunisia, including long-exiled Islamist sheik Rachid Ghannouchi.
  • worry Some are wary of what might come in the new democracy from the Islamists, some sects of which want to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on the country. source

30 Jan 2011 12:11

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World: Exiled Tunisian opposition leader Rachid Ghannouchi comes home

  • Here’s how quickly things in Tunisia have changed: This guy, Rachid Ghannouchi, a leader in the country’s Islamist Ennahda movement, has returned to the country he was exiled from 22 years ago. His party, which did well in the 1989 elections, was banned by Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali, who was likely nervous about the party’s popularity. While the party plans to take part in the upcoming parliamentary (but not presidential) elections, Ghannouchi is done with public office, saying that there are younger generations that would do a better job. But he’s back in the country which pushed him aside two decades ago – an even bigger victory. source