Ghannouchi: Tunisian model is the only hope for stability

In an interview with Quds Press, Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi has said: “Consensus is a strategic choice for Tunisia. It saved the country from a disaster.”

He added: “It is not easy for a sane person in Tunisia to abandon this bridge which has led Tunisia towards democracy.”

Ghannouchi went on, “transitional justice is a means protect the national consensus. It is linked not to people, but to a principle … the debate regarding the Truth and Dignity Commission is normal and part of the democratic transition process.”

He went on: “Tunisia is a nascent democracy and the sharp debate is a natural manifestation of this condition… There is no doubt that the transition towards democracy faces difficult situations, so great efforts have to be made … in any case, the ship, which has defeated the rough waves during the last seven years of the revolution, is not in danger.”

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Ghannouchi said that “Tunisia looks like an oasis of democracy, peace and political success, if compared to the conditions that many Arab Spring countries are going through.”

He insisted that “the Tunisian political experience confirms that there is no choice for stability in the Arab region except for the adoption of the Tunisian model of dialogue, consensus and staying avoiding division.”