Cohen Chairs Helsinki Commission Briefing on Tunisia Elections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today chaired a Helsinki Commission briefing on the upcoming Tunisia elections. The Congressman will be in Tunisia next week to serve as an election observer.

“This will be the first election held in Tunisia since the historic Arab Spring,” said Congressman Cohen. “The right to vote is a fundamental right of Americans and one of the most important factors in Tunisia as it transitions from an autocracy to a democracy. The validity and transparency of this election will serve a vital role in the future development of the country because those who are elected to the Assembly will be responsible for writing Tunisia’s new Constitution. Today’s briefing provided the Helsinki Commission with valuable information as we look to help Tunisia with its transition to democracy, and provided me with the necessary tools in my role as election observer in Tunisia next week.”

Tunisians are electing a constitutional assembly after overthrowing their long-ruling leader President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January following a month-long popular uprising that inspired similar movements in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere and has remade the face of the Arab world.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN-4) will join Congressman Cohen in Tunisia as an election observer with the mission fielded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), joining 83 other parliamentarians from 21 OSCE countries. At the invitation of the Government of Tunisia, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Arab League, the African Union, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the Carter Center and others will send hundreds of individuals from around the world to observe these historic elections.

The following panelists participated in today’s Helsinki Commission Briefing on Tunisia Elections:

• Stephen McInerney, Executive Director of the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)

• Barrie Freeman, Director for North Africa for NDI

• Mohamed Malouche, President of Tunisian American Young Professionals