Has the Arab Spring taken an Islamist turn?
Islamist parties have won key victories in recent elections across the Middle East and North Africa.
While the protest movements of the Arab Spring appeared to be largely secular in nature, Islamist parties are now winning many of the elections that followed the popular uprisings in the region.
In Tunisia, the previously outlawed Islamic party won 41 per cent of November’s constitutional assembly elections. Morocco’s Islamic Justice and Development party similarly took the biggest share of a recent vote, while its leader was recently appointed Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, often called the best-organised Arab Islamist movement, is set to gain the largest bloc in parliament. Egypt’s more conservative Salafist party came behind in second place with 25 per cent of the seats.
In this episode The Stream speaks to Olivier Roy, author of “Secularism Confronts Islam”; Brian Katulis, fellow at the Center for American Progress; and Sondos Asem, editor of the Muslim Brotherhood’s official website.
What do you think? Why are Islamist parties proving so popular in the polls? Send us your thoughts and comments on Facebook or Twitter using hashtag #AJStream.