Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the Tunisian election results on the prosperity and security of that country.

I congratulated the Tunisian government and people on their successful parliamentary elections last month. The future government, like governments everywhere, will face economic and security challenges. But these elections, which represent a significant milestone for Tunisia’s democratic transition, will provide a stable and credible platform for the government to address these challenges. The peaceful transfer of power bodes well for what the Tunisians themselves call their ‘start-up democracy’.