Flickr/Ministère Tunisien des Affaires Etrangères. Some rights reserved.Mariam Ali: Congratulations on Tunisia’s Nobel peace prize. What do you see as being the main successes of the Tunisian democratic transition process? And what are Ennahdha’s priorities for the coming period?
Rafik Abdessalem: In my opinion, the most important, vital aspect in Tunisia’s success is consensus building. The idea of consensus, for different political parties to be able work together, was the key that helped us overcome the transitory period with the minimum possible burden and costs.
One of the lessons we learned in Tunisia is the importance of various political powers working together. The main problem is not a split between the religious and secular, but rather between moderate and extremist forces—you can find both secular and Islamist moderates, just as you can find extremists on both sides. So the willingness of different parties to work together is very important for Tunisia’s security and success.
