Salafist Unrest and the Threat to Tunisian Democracy

Growing Salafist unrest is adding to the woes of Tunisia's interim government. The country's ruling mainstream Islamist party, Ennahda, already has been struggling to deliver basic services and craft a new constitution. Now, Salafists are exacerbating preexisting tensions between Ennahda and its secular coalition partners, while seeking to cull Islamist support from the ruling party.

In response to rising security and political tensions, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Oct. 31 extended the country's state of emergency by three months, but the fracturing of Islamist political parties in Tunisia is approaching a critical point. For Ennahda, Salafist opposition is a serious challenge. For Tunisia, ultra-conservative religious and political activism threatens to wreck the transitional process, which would have an impact across the region.