Tension mounts in Tunisia ahead of first Arab Spring vote

Tunisia's frontrunning Islamists warned Wednesday that post-revolution elections risk being rigged, as tension rose with the Arab Spring's first polls four days away and Washington urged against violence. The Islamist Ennahda party, widely tipped to get the biggest bloc of votes in historic polls Sunday, warned any fraud would spark a fresh uprising, nine months after a surprise wave of street protests toppled longtime dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. A leftist grouping, the Democratic Modernist Pole (PDM), complained it had been harassed by Islamists in recent weeks amid widespread fears unrest could spoil Tunisia's democratic revolution. "There is a risk of the election results being manipulated," Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi told a press conference in Tunis. "If there is manipulation, we will rejoin the forces and the guardians of the revolution which ousted Ben Ali and the first (interim) government. We are ready to oust up to ten governments if needed," he said. In a first taste of democracy for most, Tunisians will on Sunday elect a 217-seat constituent assembly which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution and charting the country's future. The United States voiced hope Wednesday that Tunisia's next government will represent a "broad spectrum", but drew the line at the inclusion of any party that advocates violence. "We want any government in Tunisia to be inclusive of a broad spectrum of the society and that certainly includes religious parties," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. "Where we would draw the line is that the use of violence for political purposes cannot ever be tolerated. And any political party that may use violence to that end cannot be a credible partner in the democratic transition in Tunisia." Pollsters expect Ennahda, which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, to win the most votes on Sunday, stoking fears among some players that Tunisia may swap a secular dictatorship for a religious one. Ghannouchi, who has stated repeatedly he would play the democratic game, accused his rivals of ganging up against Ennahda. "It is their aim to destroy us," he said. "If the small movements enter into a coalition against Ennahda if we win the elections I can say that it will be a blow for democracy." There have been sporadic anti-secular outbursts by ultra-conservative Salafists during the electoral campaign, including a petrol bomb attack on the home of a television director's house after the broadcast of a film deemed offensive to Muslims. Ennahda (Renaissance in Arabic) has distanced itself from such acts. The PDM said its supporters had been targeted in several towns.  "We condemn these acts of violence which come against a backdrop of systematic slander on the Internet and coincides with our coalition's surge over the past few weeks," PDM chairman Riadh Ben Fadhel told reporters. Two other parties dismissed suspicions that a rigged election was in the making and urged other movements to send messages of appeasement rather than stir up tempers. "We will be as vigilant as they (Ennahda) are over any manipulation of the results but I believe  that at this stage what is needed is a sign of appeasement," said Mustapha Ben Jaafar, chairman of the centre-left Ettakatol. Ben Ali, once backed by the West for his supposed role as a rampart against Islamisation, fled to Saudi Arabia a month into the leaderless uprising by Tunisians driven to the streets by social injustice, poverty and corruption. The short transition period was marked by protests against the pace of change and sporadic violence across the country, under intense global scrutiny as the spearhead of the fast-spreading Arab Spring. Despite the high stakes, however, voter interest is low in a complex electoral landscape: some 7.3 million potential balloters will elect 217 constituent assembly members from more than 10,000 candidates. In an attempt to scare the population into voting, one civil society organisation put together a video clip in which Ben Ali's giant portrait has returned to its old place on Tunis' port of La Goulette. In the short film, which has been circulating widely on the Internet, passers-by first react with disbelief at the all-too-familiar sight. They tear down the offending poster to reveal another underneath with a message in Arabic: "Wake up, the dictatorship can return! Go vote."