Tunisia in 2012: highs and lows of a never-ending transition By taking the leadership of a coalition government following the election of a National Constituent Assembly (NCA ) on October 23, 2011 , the Ennahdha Islamist party gradually brought down the institutions established during the first phase of the post- Ben Ali transition process. Relying on the electoral legitimacy of October 23, 2011, Ennahdha and its two "secular" allies, the Congress for the Republic (CPR ) and the Ettakatol party, began from scratch to rebuild the institutional foundations of the system created between January 14 and October 23, 2011, and which had formed the legal and institutional framework of the transition regime, in this way refusing to capitalize on the institutions' transitional experience. By acting in this manner, the governing party created a crisis of confidence between actors of the transitional process exacerbated by the deteriorating economic situation, the lack of a political agenda and Ennahdha's hegemonic tendencies with regard to its governing partners and institutions. Unable to achieve a draft constitution within one year, Ennahdha raised doubts among Tunisians already mistrustful of the Islamist party's political intentions.
