The Tunisian Embassy on Tuesday held a reception to commemorate the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition of unionists, employers, lawyers and human rights activists that brokered peace and forestalled a civil war.

The quartet is credited with preventing violence in 2013, following the Jasmine Revolution that overthrew longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and ended six decades of dictatorship.

By facilitating compromise between diverse interest groups and enabling a peaceful transition to institutional democracy, the group thwarted the possibility of a bloodbath as happened in other Arab Spring states ― Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria.

The Norwegian Nobel committee awarded the group on Dec. 9, ahead of nominees including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Pope Francis, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. 

“Jan. 14, 2014, was a milestone in our history when our people ushered in a new era of human dignity, good governance and freedom through a peaceful revolution,” Tunisian Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nafti said in a speech.

“For the last five years, Tunisia has pursued a modern democratic state despite our internal and regional challenges. This has been possible through dialogue and consensus among all the political parties and vibrant civil society led by the quartet.”

Subsequently, the first freely elected Tunisian National Constituent Assembly adopted a new constitution promoting the rule of law, respect for human rights and individual freedom, Nafti stressed. An independent electoral body was established to oversee free and fair legislative and presidential elections last year.

The prize is a national pride, he added, underscoring its role in preserving democracy, moralizing citizens and solving challenges in politics, economy and security.

Chung Woo-taik, chairman of the National Policy Committee of Korea’s National Assembly and president of the Korea-Tunisia Parliamentary Friendship Group, said the watershed event was a symbol of peace in the Middle East and inspiration to all nations aspiring for democracy.

According to the Nobel Prize committee, Tunisia still faces “significant political, economic and security challenges,” including public distrust of government, which has been recaptured by prerevolutionary elites, and terrorist attacks, the latest of which killed 38 tourists in Sousse in June.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)