Election day finally arrived and long queues formed in anticipation of being one of the first to vote. A certain pride exuded from every voter that was the first to cast their ballot in each polling station. The queues grew exponentially, but voters retained the patience of Job and some were even happy to see the lines. After years of dealing with unruly mobs to get any service, these queues were seen to be part of their bourgeoning democracy. When Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Al Nahda, attempted to walk straight into his polling station to cast his ballot, other voters...
Coming to grasp that I'm observing an election in a country where many members of the countries highest election commission have never voted is for some reason a shock. I've worked on elections in many countries, but this is something. Why didn't I think about this before I arrived... Tunisia had been ruled by two dictators since its independence from France, the countries first President, Habib Bourguiba, who proclaimed himself President for life and the recently deposed Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali who was President since 1987.
This is where the Arab Spring all began, finally sparked by a 26...
