Wednesday, 26 October 2011
The leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi,
said that ‘we are Arabs and our language is the Arab language.’
(Reuters)
Tunisia’s Islamic Ennahda party, which leads the vote count after
historic polls on Wednesday, insisted on the country’s Arabic identity
and blamed its Franco-Arabic character on “language pollution.”
“We are Arabs and our language is the Arab language,” party leader Rached Ghannouchi said in a radio interview as provisional results gave Ennahda a commanding lead in the Arab Spring’s first free election.
“We have become Franco-Arabic, it is linguistic pollution,” he said.
“He who is not proud of his language is not proud of his homeland,” said the Islamist leader, calling for a national dialogue on education.
“We encourage the learning of all languages ... without losing our identity.”
Arabic is the official language of Tunisia, but French is still widely spoken in the former French protectorate.
Ennahda on Wednesday vowed to form a new government within a month, saying coalition discussions had started.
The party appeared headed for a commanding lead, but no outright majority on a new 217-member assembly that will rewrite the constitution and appoint a caretaker government.
“We are Arabs and our language is the Arab language,” party leader Rached Ghannouchi said in a radio interview as provisional results gave Ennahda a commanding lead in the Arab Spring’s first free election.
“We have become Franco-Arabic, it is linguistic pollution,” he said.
“He who is not proud of his language is not proud of his homeland,” said the Islamist leader, calling for a national dialogue on education.
“We encourage the learning of all languages ... without losing our identity.”
Arabic is the official language of Tunisia, but French is still widely spoken in the former French protectorate.
Ennahda on Wednesday vowed to form a new government within a month, saying coalition discussions had started.
The party appeared headed for a commanding lead, but no outright majority on a new 217-member assembly that will rewrite the constitution and appoint a caretaker government.
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