Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

Source: Stepan, Alfred C. “Religion, Democracy, and the ‘Twin Tolerations.’” Journal
of Democracy 11.4 (2000): 42. Print.
Secular Parties in the Election
During the elections, there were a large number of secular parties competing. While the
secular parties are present within the new coalition government, the secular parties did
not perform well in the elections. There are a plethora of reasons for the poor turnout.
On the one hand, Ennahdha had a strong campaign; they were highly present throughout
the nation before the elections and were a large provider of civil services, particularly
where the government was not present. Additionally, Ennahdha was able to mobilize
with the backing of the mosque infrastructure. In contrast, the secular parties did not
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