This is what “democracy” looks like in the Islamic world.

(JPost) — Tunisia is struggling to map out its post-revolutionary future, but early signs indicate the diminutive Mediterranean state may be falling short of hopes it could serve as a regional model for good governance.

In October, Tunisians will elect a new government and choose whether to adopt a presidential or parliamentary system. But a constitutional draft completed earlier this month expressly prohibits normalization of ties with Israel, while upholding support of the Palestinians as state policy and enshrining Islam as the country’s official religion.

Tunisia was the site of the first of the Arab uprisings that have rocked the region since late last year. A frustrated fruit vendor’s self-immolation in December led to mass street protests that by the following month had unseated President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

The country is homogeneous, relatively prosperous and has a tradition of secularism and women’s rights — Tunisia was the first Arab state to legalize abortion and remains one of the few anywhere in the Islamic world where it is allowed. Observers had hoped these characteristics would help turn Tunisia into an example of progressive Arab democracy.

Early this month, the authority in charge of post-Ben Ali political reform adopted a “republican pact” to form the basis of a new constitution. The completed pact included the provision prohibiting ties with Israel, though some commission members reportedly favor leaving it out. Islamist parties, along with Arab nationalists and extreme leftist factions, are pushing to implement a constitutional provision that would ban normalization of relations with Israel.