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

Short-term
• Secular parties must further consolidate. They must create a digestible platform
and be more unified in a way that is easily understood.
• The secular parties must start thinking more seriously about an alternate form
of secularism other than laïcité. An alternate form of secularism would bypass the
importance of the religious issues that have been taking up too much of the media
time. Once the religious issues are bypassed, the key issue of economic development
will be dealt with more rigorously. A focus on economic development as the primary
problem facing Tunisia is necessary for Tunisian democracy to have the legitimacy of
functioning.
• The shift in secular ideology should manifest either along the American model or
the European. The American is where each religious group is separate from the
power structure and treated equally. The European is where there is an official
religion and the official toleration of every other religion. While in some ways some
combination of the French laïcité and the American model is what existed in Tunisia
before the revolution, the secular parties have to redefine themselves if the
relationship between religion and state will be protected within a democratic state
framework. A shift in the model of religion and state could allow the
institutionalization of tolerance rather than the granting of it by a leader. If the
discussion was redefined, both religious and secular parties would feel more protected
and, thus, more capable of working together. While historically and currently there is
a desire to see the Turkish model as a viable option, it is not. While there is not the
space to deal with this sufficiently, the Turkish model fosters intolerance between
religious and secular groups and does not have foster trust in a system that will
protect all citizens despite the party in power.
Medium-term
• The Secularists must moderate their political platform and create a digestible
platform. More moderate political platforms would yield a lack of polarization and
the continued moderate nature of Tunisian society. This would be a powerful
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