An official election timetable has been proposed for the nation that ignited the Arab Spring of 2011.

According to The Middle East Monitor:

Tunisia’s al-Nahda Movement which is part of the National Constituent Assembly has called on all political forces to accelerate completion of the draft constitution by mid-April so that a popular referendum may be held on it in July. This, it is hoped, will open the way for elections to be held in October.

In a statement made on Tuesday, al-Nahda called on all blocs and MP’s to avoid marginal discussions and urged them to attend sessions without absence as well as to activate their participation. It affirmed its commitment to dialogue and consensus on the Constitution and the committees on amendments, the date for elections and the success of this transitional and sensitive phase of Tunisia’s history.

The news comes shortly after the assassination of Chokri Belaid, a prominent secular politician who pushed for Democratic reform and opposed Islamic extremism in Tunisia. Mohamed El Dahshan commented in a Mar. 11 Foreign Policy article:

It was one month ago that the left-wing leader was assassinated at his home in the Tunisian capital. The following day, February 7, the country’s largest trade union, the UGTT, called a national strike, bringing the country to a halt for the day. According to the Ministry of Interior, an estimated 1.4 million Tunisians attended Belaid’s funeral in Tunis, 13.2 percent of the population…The number is probably inflated, but whatever the accurate figure was, it’s a crowd that Tunisia hasn’t seen since the revolution in 2011. Not to be outdone, the Islamist ruling party, Ennahda, rallied its supporters and staged two mass meetings in the following days. For a moment it seemed as though politics had returned to the streets.