ABSTRACT:

How has Tunisia’s troika fared in its first attempt to rise to the challenge to democratic transition after the 14th of January Revolution? To address this question, a threefold analytical agenda was deployed: a/ contextualisation of the new polity and the ideological divides that pit Islamists against secularists; critical assessment of the ideological divides and impact on democratic transition; and illustration of this by looking at the draft constitution to showcase the political cacophony that has led to temporary transitional breakdown due to fractional and organisational problems. Basically, are we before a disunited new polity that may be precipitating intervals of transitional breakdown until tacit consensus on the rules of the game (entailing constitution-framing and institution-building) are adopted?