Enthusiastic voters give thumbs up to process
The smile on the face of the man in charge of the polling station was genuinely welcoming. He extended his hand in a warm handshake as if the man who had just entered was a parent or a friend he had not seen in a long time.
Adam handed his identity card to the man in the dark suit sitting behind the table at the high school, a voting station in the national elections.
Once the name was checked, Adam was invited to dip his left index finger in a blue ink bottle before he was handed the white paper with the names of the candidates in the constituency.
He went into one of three booths, ticked the name of the party he wanted to vote for, folded the paper and went to the box where he cast his ballot.
Passive role
He then went back to the desk, signed a register and took back his ID under the watchful eyes of two observers and representatives from the parties running in the constituency.
The whole operation lasted less than two minutes, but for Adam and the other four million Tunisian men and women, it was the culmination of months of hopes and dreams and the end of years of suffering.
Tunisians have traditionally resented elections, seeing in them no more than a well orchestrated show in which they were forced into a passive role. They were a people who had heard and dreamed about freedom, but did not really enjoy it.
Only a select few could run and results were known well ahead of the polling, so Tunisians never cared about the municipal, legislative or presidential elections.
Yesterday, it was different. Totally different.
Impressive
“I was really impressed with the enthusiasm of the Tunisians for these elections that came after around six weeks of violence and insecurity followed by weeks of confusion and lack of vision,” Adam said.
“We were pleased with the higher degree of freedom and liberties we started enjoying.
“It was good to be free. However, there were also concerns. The level of violence that plagued some towns and villages in Tunisia was alarming,” he said.
The emergence of religious groups was a new source of concern, especially for women who feared that the new forces would affect the unusual tolerance levels they had enjoyed since the country’s independence from France in 1956.
However, Tunisians tended to dismiss the worries as not real threats.
“Extremism is not within our nature. We are fond of moderation and we want to add freedom and democracy to it. As an overall well-educated people, we have always wanted to move ahead vibrantly,” said a voter.
Optimism
“We believe that we have the right assets and we are eternally optimistic.
“We have suffered for too long a time not to anticipate a better future.
“We are aware that there are and will be hiccups, but we are determined to rewrite the rules and allow the people to enjoy higher living standards.”
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/tunisia/enthusiastic-voters-give-thumbs-up-to-process-1.917040
