The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet for helping the country's transition to democracy. (Photo : Twitter)
A collective of civil society groups in Tunisia was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. The alliance received the award for its key contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the group of civil society organizations had made a "decisive contribution" to democracy after the 2011 revolution. The prize will be presented in Oslo in December,
The Quartet consists of the Tunisian General Labour Union, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers, as reported by the Nobel Committee's official website.
It was formed in 2013 when the Islamist party Ennahda and its allies had won elections after the Jasmine revolution and the fall of the dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali began.
On Jan. 14, 2011, following a month of protests against his rule, he was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia along with his wife Leïla Ben Ali and their three children. The interim Tunisian government asked for Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant, charging him for money laundering and drugs trafficking.
A Tunisian court sentenced Ben Ali and his wife in absentia to 35 years in prison on June 20, 2011, on charges of theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewelry.
In June 2012, a Tunisian court sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment for inciting violence and murder and another life sentence by a military court on April 2013, for violent repression of protests in Sfax.
The country's post-revolutionary transformation was cut short in the middle of instability that followed the killings of rival politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, and disagreement over the drafting of a new constitution.
The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), leader, Houcine Abbassi, took the lead in creating a civil society alliance and set out looking for partners.
He convinced the union's rival, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), to join forces. Two other groups - the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers - joined the alliance.
"They showed that peacemaking takes a lot of effort and a lot of skill. The UGTT and its leader had a huge amount of experience in contract negotiations, as well as a willingness to stay up talking all night, night after night, if necessary,"said Sarah Chayes, an expert on Tunisia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a statement obtained by The Guardian.
While other countries - Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria - either reverted to authoritarian rule or descended into bloodshed, only Tunisia has managed a triumphant changeover to democracy.
Although Tunisia's transition has been less sadistic than that of Libya and Egypt, it has been marred by sporadic bloodshed, particularly from Islamic hardliners. On June 26, an Islamic terror attack occurred at the tourist resort at Port El Kantaoui, about 10 kilometers north of the city of Sousse, Tunisia
38 people were killed in the attack and most were British tourists. It was the most lethal non-state attack in the history of modern Tunisia, with more losses than the 22 shot dead by Islamist gunmen in the Bardo National Museum attack three months before.
Past laureates include U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009 and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Last year, the prize was awarded to India's Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban, for their backing of education rights for children.
