Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed at a polling station in Tunis, December 17, 2022. SLIM ABID / AP
Tunisians massively avoided the ballot box on Saturday 17 December when they were asked to renew their parliament. The opposition coalition has called for the resignation of President Kaïs Saïed, who wanted these general elections to end the process started by his coup in July 2021.
According to the Tunisian Electoral Commission, only 8.8% of voters, or around 803,000 out of 9 million voters, voted. This is the record-low turnout since the 2011 revolution – nearly 70% in the October 2014 general election.
The President of the Elections Authority, Farouk Bouasker, acknowledged a “modest but not shameful rate” because, unlike in the past, it was explained “by the total lack of vote-buying (…) with foreign funding,” he says.
“What happened today is an earthquake,” said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, the leader of the National Salvation Front (FSN). “From this moment on, we regard Saïed as the illegitimate president and call for his resignation after this fiasco,” he added. The opposition also invited the Tunisians to “massive demonstrations and sit-ins” to demand a new presidential election.
For Jawhar Ben Mbarek (FSN), “the Tunisian people have sent a message to the foreign forces – some of whom supported the Kaïs Saïed coup – and to the IMF that they do not recognize this government, so they need to check their calculations” .
unknown candidates
The opposition and most political parties, which for months accused Mr Saïed (elected in late 2019) of “dictatorial drifting”, boycotted the vote. They also denounced an amendment to the electoral law that would require nominations without party affiliation. Even the powerful trade union umbrella organization UGTT had considered these parliamentary elections to be unnecessary before the vote.
The new assembly of 161 MPs with very limited powers must replace the one Mr Saïed froze on July 25, 2021, arguing that the democratic institutions that emerged from the first “Arab Spring” revolt were deadlocked after the overthrow of dictator Ben Ali in 2011.
Another factor that might explain the dissatisfaction: the candidates (1,055), half teachers or civil servants, were essentially unknown, with very few women (less than 12%) in a country committed to parity. Twelve million Tunisians have been plagued by the economic crisis for months, with inflation at almost 10 percent and recurring shortages of milk, sugar and rice.
The preliminary results of this first round of parliamentary elections will be announced on Monday.