Tunisia has finally reached the end of its three-month-long political crisis, which intensified following the assassination of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi this past July—risking the entire transitional path.

Various political parties have agreed that the current government should resign and allow an independent figure to establish a nonpartisan government after which time the Constituent Assembly should be dissolved and a constitution finalized within three weeks.

Tunisia has finally reached the end of its three-month-long political crisis, which intensified following the assassination of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi this past July—risking the entire transitional path.

Various political parties have agreed that the current government should resign and allow an independent figure to establish a nonpartisan government after which time the Constituent Assembly should be dissolved and a constitution finalized within three weeks.

The first signs of a breakthrough manifested on October 24, when Islamist Prime Minister Ali Laaraydh formally pledged to resign, three weeks after the start of a national dialogue amongst political rivals.

Return of the outraged

Opposition MPs, who withdrew after Brahmi’s assassination, immediately returned to the Constituent Assembly following Laaraydh’s promise to resign and re-filled their seats to continue the mission that started two years ago to draft a new constitution, which Tunisians hope would guarantee their freedoms and rights.

Rached Ghannouchi, head of Ennahda’s ruling party has sounded optimistic in his comments on Laaraydh’s pledge to resign and the return of the withdrawn MPs to the Constituent Assembly. “The transitional period is now back on track and Ennahda’s mission is to break through the current crisis within a few months, to crown our revolution with the first free and honest elections that will produce the first real democracy in the Arab World,” he said.

The returned MP Hisham Hosni stressed: “We have resumed our work with more energy. We may now talk about the start of a breakthrough as the political rivals have come to the dialogue table, the withdrawn MPs have returned to the Constituent Assembly and the Prime Minister has pledged to resign according to the road map. Thus, all indicators so far demonstrate the nearby solution to a crisis that has had negative impacts on almost every level, including terrorism, which has affected the country’s security situation.”

Hosni said all political parties are aware of the gravity of the situation and are willing to overcome all obstacles through the national dialogue, which will not influence the Constituent Assembly’s mission, as a few MPs of the ruling coalition said, but is rather a complementary of the original authority and an attempt to move the country into safety.

Concordance is the answer

Secretary General of the opposition Republican Party Maya Jribi said there are indications of a breakthrough clearly manifested in the concordance between the political parties and the real launch of the national dialogue, which reassures the international financial institutions that have lately voiced concerns about the political condition in Tunisia and its critical impact on the country’s economy.

Jribi was right. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, which visited Tunisia last September expressed its concern about the major political risks that would delay the implementation of the assistance plan endorsed by the IMF and warned against the increased risks to the Tunisian economy by the political crisis and security developments.

In addition, the African Development Bank canceled the second installment of the loans agreed upon with the government, due to the lack of clarity of the economic and political vision. However, the vision has now become clearer which sould reassure the financial institutions, Jribi said.

In the same context, political analyst Jameiy Qassimi said the achievements of the past few days indicate the end of the worst crisis the country has witnessed by the formal pledge of the Prime Minister to resign according to the road map.

“The countdown has started and committees have been formed to implement the governmental and constitutional road map including an electoral body in charge of preparing for the coming elections, enacting an electoral law and defining a final date for execution,”Qassimi added.

Obstacles on the road

Qassimi said it is highly recommended to address the obstacles that may take place in the coming days such as a disagreement over the next prime minister, overcoming the obstacle of the Constituent Assembly concerning confidence for the new government, among other issues.

The road map put forward by several organizations, the most prominent of which is the Tunisian General Labor Union (GUTT), which stipulated that the Prime Minister shall offer the resignation of his government no later than three weeks as of the first session of the national dialogue, given that it shall be replaced with a government of technocrats headed by an independent national figure whose members are not allowed to participate in the coming elections.

The road map also stipulated forming the independent Supreme Electoral Body which will undertake organizing the coming general elections within one week as of the first session of negotiations, enacting an electoral law within two weeks and defining the dates of elections within two weeks of organizing the Electoral Body.

According to the road map, the Constituent Assembly shall endorse the new Tunisian constitution no later than four weeks after the first session of negotiations, with the help of an expert committee that undertakes the support and acceleration of finalizing the process so the country can reach the second elections after the revolution and thus ending the tumultuous transitional period.