Tunisian Muslim demand for Islamic state

Tunisian Islamists took to the streets on Sunday to step up their demands for the creation of an Islamic state in one of the most secular Arab nations.“This is not a show of force, but they should know that we can mobilize hundreds of thousands on the streets if they refuse the application of sharia,” said a young man who gave his name as Abu Jihad.

“We are in a Muslim country, so the talk about Islam in the constitution should not be feared.”

While Islamists did not play a prominent role in the 2011 uprising, a struggle over the role of religion in government has since polarized politics in Tunisia.

A constituent assembly elected in October, in the first vote after the revolution ousted secular President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, has about a year to hash out a new constitution.


Before the end of Sunday’s rally, demonstrators marched to Tunisia’s main theatre on Bourguiba Avenue, demanding that it be closed down and threatening to assault actors and artists.

Further alarming secularists, many demonstrators chanted “the people want a Caliphate”, referring to a defunct form of government under which Islamic empires ruled for centuries.