Not like Ben Ali’s rule: Tunisian elections draw massive crowds

• then Elections during the rule of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali generally drew a fairly small number of people, due to the fact that many believed that the results were pre-determined.
• now Ten months after the end of Ben Ali’s regime, today’s elections have drawn huge numbers of people, with lines spreading far beyond the polling booths. source

» Not without some controversy: A notable Islamist figure in the country, Rachid Ghannouchi, was heckled as he came out of the voting booth today. “You are a terrorist and an assassin! Go back to London,” one shouted. Ghannouchi, the leader of the moderate Ennahda party, spent over two decades in Britain, exiled from the country where he was once imprisoned for his political views. He returned earlier this year, and his party is expected to do well today.

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