Political Islam will be part of any democratic Tunisia, Rachid Ghannouchi tells Graham Usher in Tunis On first meeting, Rachid Ghannouchi invokes nothing so much as a retired civil servant whiling away his days in one of Tunis's leafier suburbs. The illusion is cracked only by the gaggle of bearded men in his backyard and a young female "media advisor" flitting among them. Ghannouchi is president of the Islamist Nahda (Renaissance) movement, according to some the biggest political forces in post-revolutionary Tunisia. Unlike much of the country's new political class, Nahda looks well-placed and rooted: recasting itself from an underground movement into a political party ready to contest national elections in July. "If we get a 30-35 per cent vote, we'll be very happy," says Ghannouchi. Others will be alarmed, and not only in Tunisia. Yet few doubt that in any prospective democracy here Nahda will be "part of the change", as Ghannouchi puts it. From the moment Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself in an act of outraged despair last December, the Tunisian revolution has set the bar for all that followed. This was not only because of the speed with which popular protests ousted the dictator of 24 years, Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali. It was more because of the so-called "second Tunisian revolution" which followed Bin Ali's departure: an avalanching campaign of mass civil disobedience that from January to March forced a rump "interim" government to purge its Bin- Ali holdovers; dissolve his ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) Party; un-ban movements like Nahda; free political prisoners; and wring a pledge to disband Bin Ali's hated political police . The coup de grace came last month. After days of sit-ins Tunisia's caretaker government announced national elections for a constituent assembly on 24 July, the main demand of the protesters. This will draft a new constitution and hold parliamentary and presidential elections, minting a new Tunisia "from scratch". The scale of these achievements can be compared with what's happening elsewhere. In Egypt -- at around the same time -- a majority of voters approved the kind of regime-led transition Tunisians fought so hard to prevent. In Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen dictators have still to fall. A neat, small man with silvery hair and laughing eyes, Ghannouchi is proud and modest about his country's revolution. "The youth was its leader, especially the jobless university graduates. But Nahda was among those who suffered the most in society. This anger increased the pressure on the youth". There is some vainglory in these comments but also some truth. Bin Ali's police state brooked little dissent but it was the Islamists who bore the brunt of repression, usually under the spurious claim that "eradication" was the only way to stop Tunisia becoming Algeria. Nahda cadres were killed, 30,000 were imprisoned and 1,000 exiled. Ghannouchi was tortured and sentenced to life imprisonment three times before finding asylum in Britain. (Arab states refused him). Even there he never felt wholly safe from the long reach of the political police. Yet if Nahda's role was muted in the first Tunisian revolution, it was loud in the second. In coalition with trade unionists, leftists and human rights groups, Islamist activists -- young, old, male and female -- filled Tunis's iconic Casbah Square and Avenue Bourguiba to refuse all truck with the interim government and demand a constituent assembly. Ghannouchi had set the tone. "The dictator has gone but the dictatorship remains," he told the thousands who greeted him at Tunis airport on 30 January. Two months later the dictatorship is slowly going too. What now? "We must make the transition a success," he says. "We want to work with others in a kind of national unity coalition, because no one can lead this period, not even Nahda." Yet those with whom Ghannouchi seeks to work -- social democrats, communists, trade unionists, human rights groups -- want to protect not just the revolution but Tunisian modernity and liberalism, including a Personal Status Code (PSC) that bans polygamy, grants women equal pay and a legal right to abortion. "We will not try and change the PSC in any way," vows Ghannouchi with emphasis. "We see it as compatible with Islamic law. In 1988 and again 2007 we signed pacts with Tunisia's opposition parties to keep the PSC, including the communists". Ecumenical in alliances, liberal in social policy, what is Islamist about Nahda? "Our main slogan in the transition is for democracy and justice within the Tunisian identity," says Ghannouchi. "Like the other main Tunisian parties, we want freedom of faith, a separation of powers, regular elections, a multi-party system and a free press. But whereas the other parties link these choices to Western models, we say they are rooted in Tunisia's Arab and Muslim heritage. This is what distinguishes us from the other parties. It was because Bin Ali and (Tunisia's first president Habib) Bourguiba ignored this heritage that the people became alienated from them and their discourse". Other Tunisians feel alienated by the Islamists. They predict constitutional battles once the constituent assembly is elected and Nahda pits its "interpretation" of Islamic law against those espoused by Tunisia's secular, socialist, communist and liberal parties. But that's for the future. For now Ghannouchi's main struggle may be how to unite a party of local cadres, exiles, ex- prisoners, youth activists and women behind his leadership -- or even whether he stays leader. Before his return he mooted retirement. "There are new generations in Nahda more suited to political activism," he said in January. Today he speaks of opening up the movement to "all levels of society", not just "the young but the middle classes, even the elite. We want Nahda to become a national party that can replace the RCD." It's not clear where internal elections (or retirement) fit in this ferment. When it becomes clear, the third Tunisian revolution may be the one that sweeps through Ghannouchi's backyard. For now he is enjoying an Arab spring in what barely six months ago he thought would be his twilight. For a man who has spent most of his life fighting dictatorship or living in exile because of it what is the significance of this moment in Arab history? "It's a new age, a new history", he says. "And as Tunisians we are very proud that this new history came from this small country. We feel history is moving again after being stuck for 50 years. A few years ago a US professor said history has finished. It hasn't. In the Arab world it's only beginning."
