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Growing Debate Centers on Tunisia's Islamist Party

   Lisa Bryant | Tunis  March 03, 2011
   A  Tunisian  holding  a  board reading 'Not afraid of Islam', welcomes
   opposition figure Rached Ghannouchi, unseen, during his arrival at the
   international airport of Tunis, in Tunisia (File Photo)

Photo: AP

   A  Tunisian  holding  a  board reading 'Not afraid of Islam', welcomes
   opposition figure Rached Ghannouchi, unseen, during his arrival at the
   international airport of Tunis, in Tunisia (File Photo)

   Tunisia's Islamist party was legalized this week after 20 years in the
   political  wilderness. Under the pro-Western, but hardline, government
   of  ex-president  Zine  El  Abidine  Ben  Ali,  Ennahdha was branded a
   terrorist  organization.  Now, the party is at the center of a growing
   debate on the role of Islam in Tunisia's budding democracy.

   Less  than two months ago, Ennahdha Islamist party was banned. Many of
   its members were in prison or living in exile. Now, they have returned
   home.  The  party has rented offices - now packed with visitors - in a
   bustling  street in downtown Tunis. For the first time in two decades,
   this moderate Islamist party is again part of political life.
   Just  how  big  a  role  Ennahdha  will  play  in Tunisian politics is
   anybody's  guess.  When  it ran in 1989 elections - the last before it
   was banned under ex-president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali - it captured 17
   percent of the vote.
   Still relevant?

   Ennahdha  member  Abdelhamid  Jlassi  was  jailed a few years later on
   charges of plotting against the state. He was released in 2007. Now he
   is a senior member of the party's executive committee. He has no doubt
   Ennahdha still resonates with many Tunisians.
   Jlassi  says  its  impossible  to  say  how popular Ennadha is because
   political  polls  were  banned  under Ben Ali. But he believes a large
   segment   of   Tunisia's  population  sympathizes  with  the  Islamist
   movement.
   Human  Rights Watch's deputy director for Middle East and North Africa
   programs, Eric Goldstein, agrees.
   "Ennahdha  clarely  has  a  significant base of support in Tunisia and
   wants  to play a political role," he said. "And they should be allowed
   to  play  a political role as long as it remains true to its professed
   commitment  -  to respect the rules of the game, to respect the rights
   of women and to respect the results of elections."
   Progress 
   Tunisia  is among the most secular and western-oriented country in the
   Arab  world. Most women do not wear headscarves and abortions here are
   legal. Supermarkets and many restaurants sell alcohol.
   Ennahdha  played  only  a  minor role in the youthful, Internet-driven
   revolt that ultimately toppled Ben Ali in January. But now Ennahdha is
   a  member  of  Tunisia's so-called Revolutionary Committee, made up of
   unions,  rights  groups  and  opposition groups debating the country's
   future.  A  key question is what role, if any, religion should play in
   politics.
   Cultural role 
   Some  women  are  concerned  Ennadha  may ultimately roll back women's
   rights  here  -  although party members staunchly deny this. A leading
   Tunisian   human   rights   activist  and  secretary  general  of  the
   Paris-based  International Federation of Human Rights, Khadija Cherif,
   wants a separation of mosque and state.
   Cherif is lobbying for Tunisia's constitution to be amended to include
   secularity  as  a  political  principle. If religion is separated from
   politics,  she says, what's the point of Ennadha as a political party?
   Instead, she sees it playing a cultural role.
   Religious dimension 
   But  Ennadha's  Jlassi believes democracy in Tunisia - and in the Arab
   world - can have a religious dimension.

   Jlassi  says Ennadha wants to win over Tunisian voters, not because of
   religion  but  because  of  its political platform, on unemployment or