Who are the Nobel peace prize winners and what role did they play in building a pluralistic democracy in TunisiaThe award of the Nobel peace prize to the Tunisian national dialogue quartet came as a surprise to most of the world’s bookies and punters,who had laid their bets on better known global figures like the pope and Angela Merkel. But the prize follows a Nobel tradition of rewarding underdogs who promote peace away from the headlines, and to give them strength in difficult circumstances by a reveal of tall-profile external support. Related: Tunisian national dialogue quartet wins 2015 Nobel peace prize The quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratisation process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, and peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia,in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, or irrespective of gender,political conviction or religious belief.
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Source: theguardian.com