Tunisia Says Constitution Will Not Cite Islamic Law

[pampango]

Ultraconservatives climbed a Tunis clock tower on Sunday to call for the application of Islamic law in Tunisia’s new constitution.

Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, said on Monday that the country’s post-revolution constitution would not mention Islamic law as a source of legislation, signaling a forceful break with ultraconservatives who have been demanding an Islamic state.

Instead, a drafting committee will preserve language in Tunisia’s current constitution that refers to Islam as the state’s religion and Arabic as its language, according to Said Ferjani, a member of the political bureau of Ennahda, the Islamist party that leads Tunisia’s government.

He and other Ennahda leaders framed the decision as a bid to unify the country’s disparate political factions during a delicate political transition. “There is a huge consensus within Ennahda. We have to show leadership,” Mr. Ferjani said. “We want everyone to get involved.”

The debates in Tunisia and Egypt seemed to mark a critical phase in the evolving political life of both countries, as Islamist parties, forced to grapple with fundamental questions about the very nature of the state, started to reveal their intentions, after decades of often-theoretical debate about how such parties would govern.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/africa/tunisia-says-constitution-will-not-cite-islamic-law.html?_r=1

Ahhh, for the good ol' days when dictators made these decisions and everyone else had to agree with them - or else.