( CNN ) -- Tunisia , the country where the wave of popular Arab discontent started and spread , will fittingly hold the Arab Spring 's first election Sunday , a contest pitting secularists against Islamists . The vote for a National Constituent Assembly is being billed as the freest and fairest since the strongman who ruled Tunisia for nearly a quarter century , Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali , was overthrown by street protests last January . Candidates are competing for 218 seats in the assembly , which will be charged with writing a new constitution and probably deciding the structure of Tunisia 's future government . Scores of political parties and independent candidates are competing in the contest . Voting began a couple of days ago in the Tunisian diaspora . The winners will be tasked with confronting severe domestic problems front and center after the self-immolation in December of a fruit vendor whose cart had been seized by police . The vendor , Mohamed Bouazizi , died in early January . His fiery suicide touched off a firestorm among Tunisians fed up with corruption , high unemployment and escalating food prices . The Tunisian ferment sparked uprisings in North Africa , where Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Moammar Gadhafi-led Libyan regime were ousted , and public anger in the Middle East , where anti-government protesters have taken to the streets in Syria , Yemen and Bahrain . The collective unrest has been dubbed the Arab Spring . The political debate has been robust during election campaigning and violence has erupted . Islamist groups protested in Tunis this month after a TV network broadcast an animated film called `` Persepolis , '' which at one point depicts God , regarded as an act of blasphemy to many Muslims . Police intervened with tear gas . A subsequent march by Muslim Salafist groups on the prime minister 's office was dispersed . Also , there was an attack on the home of the TV station 's owner . Ennahada , the most prominent Islamist party , condemned the violence but did not criticize the protests . Amid such tumult , public opinion across Tunisia has been frank and diverse . Balti , one of Tunisia 's most popular rappers and a supporter of the Tunisian revolution , told CNN he does n't plan to vote . `` I do n't trust any of these political parties , '' he said . `` Especially the parties that are using religion to get through to the hearts and minds of the people . '' In contrast , his sound engineer plans to vote for Ennahada , strongly supported in provincial cities and among the working classes . `` We are a Muslim country . Our language is Arabic . And Ennahada is close to Islam , '' said M.D.M.C . `` I want religion to play a bigger role in Tunisian society . '' Ennahada consistently wins popularity polls but for many it raises fears . One controversial ad raised the specter of an Islamist society where restaurants are empty of foreign tourists and women lose the right to have jobs or shun headscarves . Ahmed Najib Chebbi , a leading secularist politician , said he believes `` we live with this threat '' from Islamist parties . But Rachid Ghanouchi , the leader of Ennahada , said there 's been a `` fear-mongering campaign '' against his group . `` They use scare tactics to frighten businessmen , women , and foreign countries , but I do n't think this has worked . '' A strong showing for Ennahada would encourage other Islamists in the region . It also would raise questions about Islamism and democracy . Would Ennahada impose a conservative social code on what is one of the most secular and industrialized Arab countries ? Or would it follow the model of Turkey 's ruling Justice and Development Party , showing that Islam and democracy are compatible ? Ghanouchi , who returned to Tunisia in January after two decades in exile , said there if his party comes to power , it wo n't impose a religious lifestyle on the more secular parts of the country . He has promised to protect women 's rights and work with other political parties . `` Get to know us , not through what others say but through our actions . Give us a chance before you judge us , '' he said . CNN 's Ivan Watson , Tim Lister , and Joe Sterling contributed to this report .
The Arab Spring began in Tunisia last winter . Secularists and Islamists are vying for seats . An Islamist leader said , ` ` Get to know us ''