Tunisia welcomes Quartet’s Nobel Peace Prize Award

It was a time when Tunisia was grappling with striking a balance between the rise of political Islam in the country and the traditional secular politics it had been accustomed to for decades. “The committee continues reading the expressions of the testament as they like, instead of studying what type of “champions of peace” and what peace ideas Nobel had in mind signing his will on November. 27, 1895″.

Graffiti outside the prime minister’s office in 2011.

Njoelstad said the change sends an important message about the independence of the panel to China.

“Tunisia can only rejoice”. He added that this tribute highlights the lasting progress of an inclusive process.

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. Doing so could help their national interests – and help ensure disputes are resolved in political arenas, rather than exporting them to the streets. Then, as now, the fledgling democracy teetered on the brink of a return to autocratic rule. This enabled the National Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution, and allowed for a technocrat government to take over in January 2014.

“An encouragement to the Tunisian people is fine, but Nobel had a much greater perspective”, NPPW member Tomas Magnusson told journalist David Swanson.

It was the fall of 2013 and Tunisia’s newfound democracy was in grave danger.

And in contrast to Egypt, where fears of instability have brought a new authoritarian and repressive system to power, the North African country of 11mn people has a new, modern constitution.

“Hibakusha have grown old, so I had thought this year would be nearly the last chance for us to receive the prize”, he said.

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”. You know, it’s hard to say that we are a success, but we are working.

The award capped a week of Nobel Prize announcements, with the winners of the medicine, physics, chemistry and literature awards presented earlier in Stockholm. “It also demonstrates the importance of dialogue, including in the fight against extremism”, declared Abdessattar Ben Moussa, President of the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH).

In a stunning departure from recent history the Nobel Prize committee picked worthy recipients of the Peace Prize.

But the country is still facing very serious security problems, particularly from Islamists over the border in Libya. She had been nominated before the February 1 deadline for her role in trying to broker peace between Russian Federation and Ukraine.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said the award recognised the country’s “path of consensus”, adding: “Tunisia has no other solution than dialogue despite ideological disagreements”.

Houcine Abassi, the leader of the Tunisian General Labour Union, said he was “overwhelmed” as he found out about the award from an Associated Press reporter.

“But things are getting better and I hope that within one or two years the situation will improve”.

The prize is a huge victory for Tunisia and its young and still shaky democracy.