Tunisias first free elections since independence in 1956 were held on October 23, 2011. Voter turnout was estimated at 90%, and the election was deemed fair. Voters selected an assembly that will write a draft constitution and establish the procedure for upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Ennahda (Renaissance), a moderate, formerly banned Islamist party, prevailed, taking about 41% of the vote. Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of Ennahda, said the party is committed to democracy and pluralism and would not implement strict Muslim moral codes on citizens. In November, Hamadi Jbeli, secretary general of the Islamist Ennahda party, was named prime minister, and longtime dissident Moncef Marzouki became president.

Ennahda formed a coalition government with center-left secular parties and vowed to refrain from implementing Islamic law or mentioning it in the new constitution. However, unemployment has increased under the new government, the economy has tanked, and Islamic extremism has spread, fueling popular discontent. In addition, the ultraconservative Salafis, who promote Islamic law, burned down bars and have threatened to demolish shrines that they deem sacrilegious. Ennahda has been accused of condoning the violence against secularists and secularist institutions carried out by the Salafis. Popular discontent with Ennahda grew during the summer of 2013 because the government made little progress on the constitution and had not set a date for elections, and it intensified after the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist member of the Muslim Brotherhood, in July 2013. Ennahda responded by working diligently on a draft constitution and establishing a committee to oversee elections. However, the opposition, made up of secular parties, thwarted Ennahdas attempts to make headway on both. In October, Ennahda agreed to step down and hand power to a caretaker government, led by technocrats, that will run the country through elections in the spring of 2014.

The violence continued through