Tunisian Democracy Threatened by Weak Opposition Tunisia's fledgling democracy is threatened by a weak opposition that isn't offering a viable alternative to the well-organized Islamists in power, and discontent is taking the form of angry riots with extremist overtones instead. The return to a single, overbearing ruling party has grave implications for Tunisia and the countries across the region watching its journey to democracy after it kicked off the Arab Spring. Tunisia has had a smoother transition than its turbulent neighbors. Voters chose between a bewildering array of parties in Tunisia's first free elections in October in what was described at the time as a sign of democracy's exuberance, with the assumption that later elections would feature fewer, more sober choices. Halfway between those landmark elections and the next round of voting early next year, the political scene in this North African nation of 10 million remains a fractured sea of small parties that share little in common aside from dissatisfaction with the moderate Islamists who dominated the last election. Part of the problem is that the established opposition parties have been unable to reach out to the young and often secular Tunisians who were instrumental in taking to the streets and overthrowing longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. These Tunisians, many known for their deep immersion in online social networks, have been almost totally excluded from the political scene, which is dominated by politicians from the older generation. "In Tunisia, we live in the era of the old, not the young," said Slim Ayedi, 32-year-old blogger, journalist and activist. When I look at the Constituent Assembly, I see old people, old and incompetent. The deputies who don't have email, can't use the internet and don't speak three languages won't go far. He pointed out that he's traveled the world, met U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, appeared on international panels with Tunisian ministers and is followed online by thousands, yet has never been contacted by a political party. Instead, he said, people like him become involved in the burgeoning civil society, but in times of economic crisis, activism pays little and many have become consumed with just making a living. Some disenfranchised youth haven taken to the streets in riots, loosely linked to a growing movement of Salafis, or ultraconservative Muslims trying to impose strict interpretation of Islam on what was long a largely secular society. "The opposition's role is important to push the party in power to self-criticism and revise its policies," said Slaheddine Jurchi, a longtime political analyst and rights activist. There is a problem of political culture, there is an absence of the culture of coalitions and working together and there are problems of egoism and clashes of personalities among the heads of parties. In last year's elections, the disciplined Islamist Ennahda took 37 percent of the vote and 89 seats in the 217-person assembly, three times more than the next best performer. It then joined in a coalition with two other liberal parties to form an unassailable majority of 138 seats. The fear is that in this power vacuum, Ennahda will rule unchecked and start repeating the behavior of the former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally of Ben Ali, which dominated all aspects of political and economic life before it was disbanded.