São Paulo – The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a group comprising four institutions in the Arab country, has won the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize this Friday (9th). According to the Nobel Committee, the group was awarded for its “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.” The Jasmine Revolution is how the popular uprising that broke out in the country has come to be known.
Established in 2013, the quartet was formed by four civil society institutions: the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicraft (Utica), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers. The Nobel Committee said the quartet has exercised its role as a mediator and driving force to advance peaceful democratic development in Tunisia with “great moral authority.”
Sabri Bachtobji, the Tunisian ambassador in Brasília, told ANBA that “the quartet enabled different parties to draw closer to each other and for consensus to be reached regarding a project for a new Tunisia.”
According to the diplomat, these four institutions combined succeeded in building dialogue between the different political players in his country. “They were able to create dialogue in a very difficult time,” he stressed. Bachtobji believes “it is symbolic that the Nobel [Committee] is willing to award a prize to the Tunisian experience. This is good news to the Arab World,” he said.
The Committee remarked that the Arab Spring originated in Tunisia, in 2010 and 2011, but quickly spread to other Middle East and North Africa countries. “In many of these countries, the struggle for democracy and fundamental rights has come to a standstill or suffered setbacks. Tunisia, however, has seen a democratic transition based on a vibrant civil society with demands for respect for basic human rights,” it said.
The popular uprising in Tunisia culminated with the ousting of then-president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. In 2014, an election was held, and since December of that same year, Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi, of the secular party Nidaa Tounes (The Call of Tunisia) has been president.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
