From Democracy Digest

Today, as new democratic movements gather strength elsewhere in North Africa and Tunisia prepares for a presidential election on Sunday, the country’s role as a showcase for democracy in the volatile region is being tested, The Wall Street Journal reports:

The race has been beset by controversy and surprises. The apparent front-runner, a media mogul, was jailed in August in a disputed tax-evasion case but remains on the ballot. The late president’s conservative party has splintered in a rivalry among its former leaders, while the country’s leading moderate Islamist party put forward a nominee for the first time. Two dozen candidates are contesting the wide-open race, including remnants of the old autocratic regime and Tunisia’s first openly gay candidate.

“Success isn’t in the outcome of the election,” said Abdel-Fattah Mourou, a moderate Islamist member of parliament and lawyer who is one of the leading candidates. “Success is that the election is happening.”

See full story here.