What a great day! Productive day at work…played a fun game of soccer with some friends…enjoyed a lovely dinner with my wife… things went well.

Like most Fridays, information was flowing and the energy level was high.  All week I’ve been asked the same question over and over…“what do you think will happen on the 23rd?”

Once again I would like to refer to the well written  article on Al-Ahram Weekly which does a good job of outlining all the possible scenarios:

“Will the troika government leave power? Will the constituent assembly be dissolved? Could there even be civil conflict if no consensus can be reached, or will the troika government continue in office indefinitely?…All, some or none of this could happen. “

Possible Preview? 

Today in Egypt, Islamists and so called liberals threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs, at each other in Tahrir square.  The recent leaked video that shows Ennahda party leader Rached Ghannouchi and a group of Salafists having a “strategic conversation”, has only increased the divide between Islamists and secularists.

One thing we’ve learned from this 2 year cycle is that what happens in one Arab Spring country, has a tendency to repeat itself around the region.

Will this be the case in Tunisia?  Fortunately the divide is not as deep but there was at least one report today of “the faithful throwing stones against the police as they left the mosque of El Fateh after Friday prayers”.

October 18th 

It’s interesting to note that the Head of Ennahdha will announce the date for next year’s elections on October 18th. On that same day an Austrian delegation will visit Tunisia, with purpose of  “identifying and valorising the business and investment opportunities offered by the two countries and developing bilateral co-operation between them.”

These delegations usually do their research before travelling so they’re obviously optimistic about the situation.  As for me I will remain vigilant and cautiously optimistic.