Tunisian Assembly Holds Inaugural Session

Tunisia’s newly elected constituent assembly held their inaugural meeting on Tuesday, as election results were officially announced yesterday. Ennahda, the Islamist party, won majority of the seats, but announced today that they would form a coalition with two liberal parties, as outgoing interim President Fouad Mebazaa stated in his address to the chamber, ”Tunisia now has a shining image in the international arena thanks to the maturity shown by the Tunisian people, political parties and civil society.” The assembly agreed on a new interim government ahead of the meeting, with Hamadi Jebali, of Ennahda, becoming prime minister while rights activist Moncef Marzouki will become the interim president.

During the meeting, hundreds of Tunisians gathered in the streets outside “voicing demands ranging from the prosecution of police marksmen who fired on demonstrators last January, to calling for the new assembly to respect the goals of the revolution.” ”We have come to demand the inclusion of the rights of women and universal rights in the future constitution,” said Amel Abdennebi outside the assembly building in Tunis. As Tunisia begins its post-election path, Ambassador Richard S. Williamson praised the Tunisian effort and said “They took an important step from the old order to the new; from fear to hope,” and “this vote is very consequential for Tunisia, the broader Arab world, and the March of Freedom.”