Nobel Peace Prize for Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet

The prize is a huge victory for small Tunisia, whose young and still shaky democracy suffered two extremist attacks this year that killed 60 people and devastated its tourism industry. Many in neighbouring Libya, for example, wonder when their bitterly polarised country will ever achieve the balance of inclusivity and compromise that allowed Tunisia to move forward. After the first of those killings – of outspoken lawyer Chokri Belaid – the country’s prime minister resigned, adding even more uncertainty to the political scene.

US President Barack Obama has congratulated Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet for winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, saying the presitigious award is a tribute to the perseverance and courage of the Tunisian people.

As a trade union body, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA: Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat) eventually responded to the UGTT’s invitation to endorse and join the national dialogue.

Meanwhile, Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also welcomed the attribution and said that the award represents hope for the Arab world and beyond, and this prize incites us to give it our full support. It wasn’t immediately clear who would accept the award on behalf of the quartet at the December 10 award ceremony.

The Nobel committee said the group of civil society organisations had made a “decisive contribution” to democracy after the 2011 revolution.

In 2013, Tunisia was reeling from the assassination of figures who led the opposition to its ruling Islamist party, Ennahda.

The Nobel panel said the award to the National Dialogue Quartet was intended as an “encouragement to the Tunisian people” and as an inspiration for others, particularly in the turbulent Middle East.

In nearby Egypt, which had followed Tunisia in a democratic revolution, a coup had just overthrown the Islamist government, and a few sectors in Tunisia wanted to follow suit.

A Peace Corps official said that returned volunteers would have a lifelong special relationship with our host countries.

The UGTT secretary general, Hocine Al Abassi, who was quietly opposed to having the elected assembly dissolved, would emerge as a key mediator within the Quartet.

Anticipation is growing in the countdown to the announcement Friday of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize – one of the most prestigious prizes in any field of endeavor, anywhere in the world.

Tunisian broadcast media interrupted coverage to announce the news, and social media exploded with celebratory commentary.

Ooyvind Stenersen, a Nobel historian, described the decision as “a bit bewildering”. “But it was a bit bewildering”.

Committee head Kaci Kullman Five told Reuters: “I think it’s timely to put the limelight on the positive results that have been obtained in Tunisia to try to safeguard them, to try to inspire the Tunisian people to build further on this basis”.

For Mr Huertaux, the peace prize “can be read as a signal to Tunisian civil society to continue with its work”.

An attack in June on a beach resort in Sousse left 38 dead, mostly British tourists.

However, a great hope for democratic transition in North Africa and the Middle East was dashed in countries like Libya, Syria and Yemen; all three have faced civil strife and chaos instead of peaceful change.

Since the prize was first awarded in 1901, Heffermehl said, only six prizes have gone to people or groups who met the language of the will and Nobel’s intention.

MONTAGNE: It was Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution that set off the Arab Spring.