Runoffs due in most Tunisian districts in controversial parliament election

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS – Runoffs shall be held in most Tunisian areas after solely 21 candidates secured victory within the first spherical of parliamentary elections, the electoral fee stated on Monday, following the controversial vote marked by a really low turnout.

Solely 8.8% of Tunisian voters solid ballots in Saturday’s parliamentary elections, the nation’s electoral fee introduced, after most political events boycotted the vote as a charade to shore up President Kais Saied’s energy.

“The preliminary knowledge of legislative elections present the victory of 21 candidates from the primary spherical … the second spherical of those elections will embody 133 districts”, Mohamed Tlili Mansri, the spokesperson of electoral fee stated.

He added that the runoff shall be on Jan. 20.

Underneath the brand new structure drafted by Saied and accepted by a referendum final July, the brand new parliament could have very restricted powers.

With the primary events absent, a complete of 1,058 candidates – solely 120 of them girls – have been operating for 161 seats.

For 10 of these – seven in Tunisia and three determined by expatriate voters – there is only one candidate. An extra seven of the seats determined by expatriate voters haven't any candidates operating in any respect.

The election was a part of a collection of political adjustments made by Saied after he shut down the earlier parliament final yr, in strikes his critics have referred to as a coup.

After the turnout figures have been introduced, main events, amongst them the Salvation Entrance, which incorporates the Islamist Ennahda occasion and its arch-rival, the Free Constitutional Occasion, stated Saied had no legitimacy and may step down, calling for large protests.