[symple_box]
Professor Tariq Ramadan is a man of no need to introduction. He holds MA in Philosophy and French literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva. In Cairo, Egypt he received one-on-one intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars. Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony’s College ). He is also teaching at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. He is at the same time a Visiting Professor in Qatar (Faculty of Islamic Studies) and in Morocco (Mundiapolis) and a Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan).[/symple_box]
We must congratulate, with some vigor, both the Tunisian people and the political actors who, despite all the potential pitfalls, were able to negotiate the democratic transition without violence and with respect for the institutions. In light of the Egyptian, Libyan, Yemeni, Iraqi and Syrian disasters, it was a real challenge. We must welcome this collective victory.
Nothing is finished and the road is still long. The government’s constitution and the first political decisions will tell us if Tunisia is moving forward or is still haunted by its old demons. Three major questions arise: will the new government propose a new and transparent policy, serving the people, beyond the celebration of a symbolic legacy with those who, being amnesic, are quick to state that Bourguiba’s era was “democratic”? Will the political forces be able to go beyond the barren polarization to address the real issues of economic reform, social justice, fight against corruption and protection of civil liberties? Will Al-Nahda get the intellectual and strategic resources to settle itself as a constructive opposition bringing concrete political and economic responses beyond its sole Islamic (or historical) legitimacy?
The road is long indeed, but the fact remains that we must salute the Tunisian exception even if it reminds us, in his joy, that elsewhere – sadly – there was never any “Arab Spring” …
[symple_box]
Professor Tariq Ramadan is a man of no need to introduction. He holds MA in Philosophy and French literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva. In Cairo, Egypt he received one-on-one intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars. Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony’s College ). He is also teaching at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. He is at the same time a Visiting Professor in Qatar (Faculty of Islamic Studies) and in Morocco (Mundiapolis) and a Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan).[/symple_box]
