That National Dialogue Quartet was bestowed the honor “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011,” the Nobel Committee said. “It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war,” the committee said, according to USA Today.
The group is made up of four organizations: the Tunisian General Labour Union; the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Order of Lawyers; and the Tunisian Human Rights League.
“More than anything, the prize is intended as an encouragement to the Tunisian people, who despite major challenges have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity which the committee hopes will serve as an example to be followed by other countries,” Nobel Peace Prize Committee Chairwoman Kaci Kullmann Five said.
Last year, the prize was given to both India’s Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” This year, 270 people were nominated, and all of them were worthy of winning.
This year’s candidates included Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, Eritrean Catholic priest Mussie Zerai, Pope Francis, Denis Mukwege, who is a gynecologist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Secretary of State John Kerry as well as his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. But the six-member Norwegian Nobel Committee felt the National Dialogue Quartet deserved the prize the most. And we couldn’t be happier with their decision!
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— Chris Rogers