Analysis: “Tunisians Voted for Jobs, Not Islam”

Writing for Foreign Policy, Michael Robbins and Mark Tessler argue that in spite of Ennahda’s strong performance in Tunisia’s recent elections, statistics indicate “that Ennahda’s victory was not a clear call for a more religious political system,” and economic factors still dominate the public sphere. Citing results of an Arab Barometer poll, the authors suggest “that Tunisians believe that Islam should inform some elements of political life … [and] it appears that Tunisians tend to support laws that are both grounded in the will of the people and in accordance with religious law.” Tunisian’s seem to prefer Islam to influence politics in a “informing but not driving” manner, and it appears that the majority of them remain primarily concerned with economic matters.

Tunisians seem to believe that some aspects associated with liberal democracy have been achieved thus far, according to survey results, and more than three-quarters (76.5 percent) of respondents indicated that they supported a civil state compared to 23.5 percent who stated that they wanted a religious state. Overall, Robbins and Tessler contend it is “clear that Tunisians continue to have high hopes for the achievements of the ongoing political transition, although most central to these are hopes for a better economic future.”