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Tunisians talk about their hopes for the future as the country's first free elections since the overthrow of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

along the main street of the deserted city, rural areas of Tunisia where the revolution began, people watched from the sidewalk as a new type of expression filed past.

first had a slow truck carrying a group of 10 years of age, children waving flags religious, shouting "Allah is great" Then came a crowd of 100 to 200 people chanting " Your God was insulted, leave to defend "

Men

headed the procession - some with long beards, others in jeans and leather jackets. A few yards behind came a dozen veiled women with banners. They were protesting against a projection of the Tunisian television Persepolis award-winning animated film about a woman in the 1979 Iranian revolution. The crowd screamed blasphemy, complaining that a sequence of film shows God as a bearded old man, that Islam forbids such images.

"They protested daily for five days," said a lawyer for legal clothing watching the steps of the courthouse. "This kind of Islamists are a minority in Tunisia. But there is a strange atmosphere that could affect the election. "

Sidi Bouzid, a small village, forgotten in private Tunisia is famous as the birthplace of the Arab spring. When Mohamed Bouazizi, a young vegetable seller, set himself on fire to protest against the police confiscated his cart of vegetables spread uprising in December 17 and one month later, the despotic sovereign, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country.

a domino effect, I saw people on the streets across the Arab region and plans begin to crumble. Today, nine months after the revolution of the people, Tunisia is to hold its first free elections this weekend. This is the first vote of the Arab spring.

But Sidi Bouzid, still paralyzed by inequality, unemployment and corruption of the old regime, remains the test of what people call the unfinished revolution of Tunisia. As elections approach, their mood of anxiety and expectation reflects the rest of Tunisia. Sidi Bouzid demonstrations against the film Persepolis reflect a more conservative movement of Muslim protests around the country last week. On Friday, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Islamists, Salafists, many, demonstrating against the film in Tunisia. The owner of the television channel Nessma apologized for the presentation of the film, but the public, however, tried to petrol bomb and burn your house down, forcing his wife and children to flee.

Miles

conducted a cons-demonstration in Tunis on Sunday in support of TV and freedom of expression, arguing that Tunisia was a secular, tolerant and open.

The moderate Islamist party Ennahda, slope to the polls in elections, condemned the attacks on television Nessma, but said that watching the movie was a provocation. "It has deteriorated mood, fear of people likely to destabilize a country about to vote," said a trade unionist.

After more than 50 years, primarily as a one-party state, Tunisians have to choose between a bewildering array of over 100 new political parties and dozens of independent candidates - an alphabet soup of political groups were compared with short-term explosion of the parties in post-Franco Spain.

specific role of the new assembly will draft a constitution. This will take at least a year, and only after that will happen the parliamentary and presidential elections. Tunisia wants to make the transition to democracy a step at a time.

Behind the main street of Sidi Bouzid, the bumpy, dusty streets, where many families survive on the equivalent of 80 pounds per month, mules pulled wagons and children played barefoot. Families came to their doors as Ennahda 12 elections were carried from door to door and piles of brochures and the use of specially printed white jackets with the logo of the party. Local candidates from an anesthesiologist who has lived in Saudi Arabia for a female high school teacher of Arabic.

well organized, well-resourced and staffed, the party was banned and persecuted under Ben Ali is expected that the demand for a historic victory with a large proportion of the vote. But a system of proportional representation means that deliberately complex, regardless of the number of votes, no party can win a majority of seats or to dominate the new assembly.

After 23 years of despotism of Ben Ali, Tunisia fears that any political group overwhelming the delicate transition.

"This election is a good thing," said a vegetable seller about 50 years, pushing a cart of low production, such as that triggered the revolution. "But do not throw the revolution, make sure you have a real change in people's lives. Like many people, I am undecided about whom to vote."

Tunisian voters are skeptical of political parties and thousands of their promises. Many politicians fear "self-interest, corruption and the cult of personality that have taken over Tunisia in the past.

Voters want action on unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption, but the assembly is to develop the legal framework of the new state.

covered with graffiti to commemorate revolutionary martyrs and warn young people, "Do not give up," Sidi Bouzid is still among the highest unemployment in the country. About 45% of women are higher unemployment.

Far more touristy coast of Tunisia, which has yet to celebrate their special status as the cradle of Arab spring, since, as a trade unionist, he says, "much of the misery of everyday life has not changed since Ben Ali on. "Even the family of the martyr Bouazizi moved." Symbols of our revolution have been removed, "said one lawyer.

See more about : [Brahim][Metlaoui][Aouainia][Khaled][Ammar][Jilani][Bouzid][Ennahda][Nessma][Sidi]