Nobel Peace Prize honors groups working to save Tunisia

BERLIN — The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday bestowed the Nobel Peace Prize on an alliance of four Tunisian civil society groups for their efforts to foster democracy in the nation that gave birth to the Arab Spring.

The quartet of groups, including a labor union with about 1 million members, has worked to advance democracy in Tunisia, which still struggles with unrest but has made relative strides toward reforms even as other Arab Spring nations face greater violence, instability and the reemergence of dictatorships.

The civil society groups provided a critical bridge for dialogue and political compromises as Tunisia’s democracy appeared in danger of collapse after the 2013 assassination of two leftist politicians.

The groups organized a dialogue between Islamists who dominated the government and opposition and secular activists, helping to ease the deep polarization that has torn apart other countries in the wake of the Arab Spring upheavals.

The Tunisian groups, the committee said, made a “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011” — the name given the uprising that sparked the wider Arab Spring.

“More than anything, the prize is intended as encouragement for the Tunisian people who have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity which the committee hopes will be followed by other countries,” the committee said.

The National Dialogue Quartet comprises four key organizations in Tunisian civil society, including the Tunisian General Labor Union, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.

But the award also seemed to more broadly honor a nation where the Arab Spring began after street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire on Dec. 17, 2010, to protest his helplessness after his wares were confiscated by corrupt local authorities.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi called the award a sign of hope only a day after a high-profile assassination attempt against a secular politician.

“I know the situation is currently very difficult in Tunisia,” he said. “And despite all the rumors circulating about yesterday’s incident the attempted assassination, we have received happy news. Not everything is dark and grim.”

For the winners, too, the Nobel was a stunning acknowledgment of one of the Arab Spring’s promising fronts, which is often overshadowed by the hijacked hopes in other countries such as Libya, Egypt and Syria.

But the political openness that followed the revolt also allowed extremists to organize and challenge the country’s secular traditions.

“I am astonished, so happy. There are calls coming in from all over the world. I can barely believe this is happening,” a breathless Ali Zeddini, vice president of the Tunisian Human Rights League, told The Washington Post.

He acknowledged, however, that the Nobel decision comes “at a time of great stress and tension in Tunisia.”

“It has reminded us of our accomplishments, and places great responsibility on us to maintain peace and our democracy through dialogue,” he said.

Critics, however, suggested that the Nobel committee had failed to fully acknowledge the extent of the political violence still gripping Tunisia.

As recently as Thursday, for instance, a secular legislator and soccer king, Ridha Charfeddine, escaped an assassination attempt after gunmen opened fire on him in the coastal city of Sousse.

“This decision hit me like a rock,” said Hamdadi el-Aouni, a Berlin-based Tunisian political scientist , referring to the Nobel. “I do not know what these people of the committee where thinking. I’ve just come back from Tunisia. There is no state, just total chaos. And there is certainly no peace there.”

But the Nobel was widely hailed as a nod toward the ability of Tunisia’s political and civil groups to seek dialogue while other Arab Spring neighbors have stumbled back to bloody power struggles or tighter rule.

In a congratulatory Twitter post, Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda party hailed the award as “a victory for all Tunisians, who showed strength, patience &commitment to peace &democracy in face of countless challenges.”

The group’s general secretary, Houcine Abassi, said the group was “overwhelmed” by the Nobel selection.

“It’s a prize that crowns more than two years of efforts deployed by the quartet when the country was in danger on all fronts,” he said.

Michael Ayari, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group who lives in Tunis, said the Nobel decision “allows people to maintain hope.”

“The international community still believes in Tunisian democracy,” he said. “And we know that with dialogue we can solve our conflicts.”

Today, Tunisia’s political transition remains tenuous and far from complete. But the progress made thus far came about because of the ability of civil society organizations to reach a “landmark compromise” between the government and opposition groups, according to Mohamed Kerrou, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

“Tunisia’s consensus was only possible thanks to an inclusive national dialogue brokered by the Quartet,” Kerrou wrote.

Following the fall of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia’s democracy emerged as the strongest in the Arab world even as it confronts still-deep divisions and challenges.

After a dialogue between Islamist and secular lawmakers, Tunisia last year passed a constitution that was seen as one of the most liberal in the Arab world and that won praise from human rights groups. Last year, Tunisia also held its first democratic presidential elections, voting in Essebsi, an 88-year-old who formerly served under the repressive regime of Habib Bourguiba.

Yet the nation has since struggled to find a lasting peace, and fears have reemerged about the threat to democracy following a crackdown against rising Islamist extremism.

After a Tunisian gunman believed to have received training from Islamists in Libya killed 38 people at the beach resort of Sousse last June, the government vowed to shut down extremist mosques and take other steps to curb terror.

As often in the Nobel Peace Prize, the announcement amounted to a stunner. The Tunisian alliance had not been mentioned as a leading contender. As is traditional, the winner was kept secret until 11 a.m. local time in Oslo, when the name was divulged by Kaci Kullmann Five, chairwoman of the five-member prize committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

The peace prize, first awarded in 1901, is seen by many as the most influential — and political — of the awards established by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

The decision marked the second consecutive peace prize to honor a recipient in the Muslim world. Last year, the award went to Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai. She shared the prize with Indian Kailash Satyarthi, a champion for childhood education.

Tunisia has been spared much of the the widespread bloodshed that has plagued the rest of the Arab world since uprisings swept the region four years ago.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.