On January 14, Tunisians sent shockwaves coursing through the Arab world by ousting their despised dictator, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. On Sunday, with the revolutions it set in train still raging elsewhere, Tunisia has again sent a signal of hope to a troubled region by holding the first election of the Arab spring. The country’s new class of politicians – both the victors and vanquished – must now complete the hat trick by entrenching the habits of democracy in a country that has long been deprived of such freedoms.
今年1月14日,突尼西亞人趕跑了他們所鄙視的獨裁者扎因•阿比丁•本•阿里(Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali),震撼了整個阿拉伯世界。上週日,在突尼西亞點燃的革命之火仍在其它地方熊熊燃燒之際,該國又爲這個動盪不安的地區送來一縷希望的曙光——它舉行了「阿拉伯之春」以來的首個選舉。突尼西亞新形成的政治家階層(既包括勝選者也包括敗選者)現在必須完成「帽子戲法」:讓民主習慣在這個長期喪失民主自由的國家裏紮下根來。