Daniel Cohn Bendit; "Religion and politics must be separated"
“Muslim countries now that they have rid themselves of despotism, should define a democracy coexisting with their religion which represents a difficult task".
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Daniel-Cohn-Ben...
Mr Daniel Cohn Bendit, chairman of the European Greens- European Free Alliance caucus in the European Parliament said at a conference held bythe Centre of Mediterranean International studies (CEMI) with the theme "Old Democracies and Arab Springs".
He said that in a democracy where religion played a pivotal role , there was a democratic difficulty. He said that "in Tunisia responsibility dictates that convergent political spaces be created between the religious political space and the secular one".History showed that the separation between Church and State was not easy but was achievable, he said.
"In a democracy each political force should know and be able to defend the other's freedom of speech" he observed. He added that secularists lost in Egypt and Tunisia because they were not close to the most under privileged social strata and were not intellegent enough to form a coalition.
He asserted that " respect for minority rights, human rights and freedom of the press is essential to achieve democracy" adding that "media should be open and not ideologically blocked."
Adressing the current Tunisian political situation he thought that the tripartite leadership coalition was solution if not necessarily the best one according to some people. He felt that the solution did not just depend on a presidential or parliamentary solution for the regime to be adopted in Tunisia. He reviewed criteria which in his view were necessary for a successful democracy emphasising equality between men and women and women's inheritance rights, observing that "societies do not develop if there is no equality between men and women."
He emphasise the importance of the Maghreb Union as a regional grouping because the countries themselves could not compete with Europe in terms of agriculture and fisheries and projects such as Desertec.
Tunisia's ultra-conservative Salafist Reform Front, which advocates Islamic law, or sharia, met for the first time on Sunday and urged the authorities to renounce the separation of politics and religion.
Mohamed Khouja, head of the Islamist movement made legal in March, told AFP the call was being made to the constituent assembly "that sharia be inscribed as the sole source of legislation" in Tunisia
He said that in a democracy where religion played a pivotal role , there was a democratic difficulty. He said that "in Tunisia responsibility dictates that convergent political spaces be created between the religious political space and the secular one".History showed that the separation between Church and State was not easy but was achievable, he said.
"In a democracy each political force should know and be able to defend the other's freedom of speech" he observed. He added that secularists lost in Egypt and Tunisia because they were not close to the most under privileged social strata and were not intellegent enough to form a coalition.
He asserted that " respect for minority rights, human rights and freedom of the press is essential to achieve democracy" adding that "media should be open and not ideologically blocked."
Adressing the current Tunisian political situation he thought that the tripartite leadership coalition was solution if not necessarily the best one according to some people. He felt that the solution did not just depend on a presidential or parliamentary solution for the regime to be adopted in Tunisia. He reviewed criteria which in his view were necessary for a successful democracy emphasising equality between men and women and women's inheritance rights, observing that "societies do not develop if there is no equality between men and women."
He emphasise the importance of the Maghreb Union as a regional grouping because the countries themselves could not compete with Europe in terms of agriculture and fisheries and projects such as Desertec.
Tunisia's ultra-conservative Salafist Reform Front, which advocates Islamic law, or sharia, met for the first time on Sunday and urged the authorities to renounce the separation of politics and religion.
Mohamed Khouja, head of the Islamist movement made legal in March, told AFP the call was being made to the constituent assembly "that sharia be inscribed as the sole source of legislation" in Tunisia
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Daniel-Cohn-Ben...