Brussels, 28/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 28 October, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle congratulated the Ennahdha party for winning the Tunisian general elections with more than 40% of the vote according to preliminary results released on 27 October. They said that the EU would be supporting Tunisia.
“The EU looks forward to working closely with the new Constituent Assembly and the Tunisian authorities and institutions in responding to the Tunisian people's demands for democracy, freedom, social justice and dignity”, they explained in a joint statement, noting: “The EU remains fully committed to continue its political and financial support for the Tunisian society.”
Ashton and Füle pointed out: “For the first time Tunisian citizens have had the opportunity to choose in a free and democratic manner their representatives and determine their own future. The newly elected Constituent Assembly will now have the key task of writing the new constitution of the country. It will need to work in a spirit of consensus in order to build a new democratic state.'
The chair of the Policy, Security and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean, Tokia Saïfi (EPP), said that the various political forces and civil society should ensure respect for the aspirations expressed by the voters and the Constituent Assembly's sense of responsibility and discernment would be crucial for building tomorrow's Tunisia.
On 26 October, the head of the ALDE Group at the EP, Guy Verhofstadt, said that it was up to Ennahdha, a moderate Islamic party, to demonstrate that it can strike a balance between moderate Islam and democracy and between freedom and equality for men and women, and this is reinforced by the fact that it will have to form a coalition with secular parties.
Ashton and Füle “regretted the violent clashes that occurred after the announcement of the preliminary results of the elections and urged calm and restraint”. The demonstrators were protesting against the removal from the list of a Tunisian businessman based in London, Hechmi Haadmi, who came fourth with 19 seats because of “financial irregularities” in six constituencies. (CG.transl.fl)