TUNIS: Tunisia's main Islamic party emerged victorious Thursday in the Arab Spring's first elections, taking 90 of 217 seats in the new assembly nine months after the ouster of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.
Violent protests broke out in the central town of Sidi Bouzid, where the uprising started last December, after the provisional results were announced, witnesses and the interior ministry said.
The Islamic Ennahda party now has the single-biggest share of the assembly that will rewrite the constitution, appoint a president and form a caretaker government, elections chief Kamel Jendoubi told journalists in Tunis.
He also announced the invalidation of six candidates' lists of the Petition for Justice and Development, including one in Sidi Bouzid, notably due to "financial irregularities".
The group, led by Hechmi Haamdi, a rich London-based businessman said to have close ties to Ben Ali, still managed fourth place with 19 assembly seats.
Following the announcement of the invalidations however, Haamdi said he was withdrawing his candidates from the assembly.
Haamdi had campaigned from London via his satellite television station al-Mustakilla.
In one broadcast earlier Thursday he said he "feared" his supporters would display anger after Ennahda refused to include his grouping in negotiations to form a new government.
Witnesses said more than 2,000 young people marched on Ennahda's headquarters in Sidi Bouzid when the results were announced and pelted security forces with stones. An AFP correspondent said they broke doors and windows of the Ennahda building and burnt tyres on the town's main road.
According to the TAP news agency, "acts of destruction and pillaging also took place at the municipality".
Witnesses reported a similar protest in the town of Regueb, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Sidi Bouzid, where a gunshot was fired at an Ennahda office.
On the main road in the capital Tunis however, the results were met with a cacophony of car hooters blaring, as people hung out of car windows singing and waving Ennahda and Tunisian flags.
The provisional results put two leftist parties in second and third place after Sunday's historic polls: the Congress for the Republic (CPR) obtaining 30 seats, and Ettakatol 21 seats.
The ISIE electoral commission said political groups had two days to lodge challenges to the results.
Ennahda was banned under Ben Ali's regime and only registered as a political party in March.
But on Wednesday, preempting the official news of its victory, Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi said it had started coalition negotiations and intended to form a new government "within no more than a month."
The party, which presents itself as having a moderate Islamic agenda, has put forward Ennahda's number two, Hamadi Jebali, as candidate for prime minister.
The new assembly will determine the country's system of government and how to guarantee basic liberties, including women's rights, which many in Tunisia fear Ennahda would seek to diminish despite its assurances to the contrary.
Analysts have said that Ennahda, even in a majority alliance, would be unable to "dictate" any programme to the assembly.
It will have to appease its coalition partners, a moderate-minded society, and the international community on whose investment and tourism the country relies heavily, they argue.
Ennahda said it had met bankers and stockbrokers earlier Thursday to reassure them.
The electoral system was designed to include as many parties as possible in drafting the new constitution, expected to take a year, ahead of fresh national polls.
Ennahda's Jebali on Wednesday signalled his intention to form an executive with the highest scoring leftist parties, singling out the CPR and Ettakatol.
He also stressed they had no intention "to impose a constitution ... that abrogates the freedom of belief, individual liberties, the legal position of women and their place in society.
"Is it reasonable to paralyse a sector as vital as tourism by interdicting alcoholic beverages and bathing suits?" he asked.
"These are individual liberties guaranteed for foreigners as much as for Tunisians."
Tourism represents about seven percent of GDP -- bringing in 780 million euros from January to September 2011, a drop of 39.4 percent from 2010.
The CPR has defended its coalition talks with the Islamic party.
"No, no, no it is not the devil and we do not make pacts with the devil," party leader Moncef Marzouki said on Wednesday.
"One must not take them for the Taliban of Tunisia. It is a moderate part of Islam."
The Progressive Democratic Party, which was polling in second place before the election, came fifth with 17 seats.
COMMENTS (13)
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Algeria reality was different. As far as an-Nahda is concerned it only uses slogans of Islam rather in essence declares herself "moderate" or a party similar to Justice & Develop in Turkey; which openly admits being secular.. AKP hasn't brought any Islam to Turkey and so will an-Nahda to Tunis. Secularism and Islamism are antonyms, while democracy embraces secularism in core, democracy admits "majority formula" which is contradictory to Islamism. History is evident from Algeria's massacre in 1991, Nizam-r-Mustapha movement & recent govt of MMA in Khyber.Panktun, Hamas in Palestine, etc, that democracy can never bring Islam, rather its only to blunt sharp edges of Islamic movements. Islam is only possible through Caliphate !
lol lol people.. Are you not reading just the heading? what kind of Islamic law are you talking about. They are saying, it is nonsense to ban alcohol and bikinis.. because it brings in Euros.. and you are are chanting sharia law sharia.. Neither religious [radicals, not devout] enthusiasts nor liberal extremists are any hope for Pakistan.... God, please, save Pakistan
The secularists lose again. Where are the ones screaming that secularism won because of the 'Arab Spring'. No where to be seen.
More freedom equals more Sharia. The people have got it right while secularist propagandists keep harping on about a narrow ideology which will never happen: secularism.
Its a good thing that the Endaahda party is moderate, otherwise we would be looking forward to stonings, amputations, and beheadings. I hope they stick to their role model of Turkey and Malaysia, as they've repeatedly stated.
It is not only Tunisia, It is in Egypt, Turkey, Algeria and several other countries where Islamic parties are gaining the confidence of their people.
poor Tunisians, lets see........
Good news Islamist party has emerged as leading party in tunisian election. More or less, same result will emerge in egypt and libya. If america and nato countries succeeded in repeating the same things in syria as well, then islamist parties will also emerge there too. But the big question is this: whether outside forces which helped the rebels in these countries will accept the new islamist forces there. Algeria's example is before us where the islamist party which won election with a big margin more than a decade ago was not allowed to come into power. The result was hundred of thousands algerians were killed in the rebellion that followed till this day. The people of tunis and egypt should be on alert to ensure the victorious parties do get power as well disregarding the wishes of America and nato countries.
god save tunisia now!!!
Good for tunisia. May Allah(swt) bless the tunisian's and show them the right path and give them the ability to hold on to the rope of Allah. I hope oneday every muslim country including Tunisia , PAK & BD can establish true islamic law and safeguard its interest as per the guidance of Quran & sunnah. By the way the word "islamist" is coined by the west and there is no such word. They want to align islam to terms like communist & capitalist and so muslims must never use terms such as islamist .
Tunisia got islamic govt and other day libian transactional person said its gonna shriah law for libya next syria will get Sunni islamic govt and palestine allready have hamas islamic govt next algeria and then pakistan ....
CNN has different perception. They feel big pain in their heart with biased reporting. They Keep saying the winning party as ISLAMIST. we should protest this phrases.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/28/world/meast/tunisia-elections/index.html
Mashallah , and Islamic law will be enforced in Tunisia by this party Inshallah and Pakistan's day will come too one day for True islamic law.
Mashallah, Islamic government in Tunisia is just a starter, I hope other Arab countries will follow too Inshallah and also one day true Islamic law will be enforced in Pakistan as well.