July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Islam and Democracy in Tunisia
The president of Tunisia’s Ennahdha party, Rached Ghannouchi, argues that the solution to extremism is more (not less) freedom and democracy, along with more moderate religious teachings.
Rached Ghannouchi
Rached Ghannouchi is cofounder and president of the Ennahdha party in Tunisia. A leading political theorist on Islam, pluralism, and democracy, he spent twenty-two years in exile before returning to Tunisia in 2011 to take part in the country’s historic democratic elections. The text that follows is his keynote address to the Ninth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Dakar, Senegal. It was delivered on his behalf on May 9 by his advisor on U.S.-Tunisian relations Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID).