Tunisia Promotes Coalition Government For Arabs

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Tunisia’s foreign minister says its newly formed coalition government that includes Islamists, secularists and leftists is a good model for other Arab countries moving toward democracy because it gets disparate parties to work together for the first time.

Rafik Ben Abdessalem said it’s important not to move from the one-party rule of the past to a democratic system where one party again controls the government.

He told a panel on “Rethinking Islam in Politics” at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that all strands of the political system should work together “in a pragmatic manner” on key issues.

Abdessalem said he is optimistic the Tunisian model will be adopted in Egypt, noting that the Muslim Brotherhood is “very keen” to have a coalition government.