Islamic Progress

So, this is progress?

Democracy?

Liberalism?

Tunisia's al-Nahda party, a moderate Islamist movement that had been repressed under the regime of deposed leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, appears poised to win roughly 40 percent of the vote in the country's recent elections...Liberal parties quickly moved to form a unity government with al-Nahda, raising hopes that genuine pluralism will flourish in post-revolution Tunisia...

The election's results were cheered by Islamists across the Middle East, who took al-Nahda's victory as evidence that their movements are compatible with democracy. The leader of the political party representing Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said that Tunisia's elections proved, "there is no Islamist exception, no Arab exception about democracy."

Meanwhile, al-Nahda leaders attributed their success to the party's willingness to incorporate liberal ideas into its ideology while simultaneously downplaying its religious conservative. "We are the most progressive Islamic party in the region," said one spokeswoman.

So, reassuring.

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