The swift victory of moderate Islamists at the first free elections in the historically secular
Tunisia left a bitter taste for the losers. After three interim governments and amid a vast ongoing
legal and institutional reform process, Tunisia can be considered as a positive example
of a non-violent and functional transitional phase from dictatorship towards democracy.
Although peaceful, the Tunisian transition is characterised by a fierce debate between the
secular (‘leftist’ to its opponents) and the religious camps (satirically dubbed the Long Bearded
by the secular discourse).
