Tunisians go to the polls

TUNISIANS voted in their first free municipal elections yesterday, another step in a democratic transition that has become marred by disappointment over a lack of jobs and economic opportunities.

The Islamist Ennahda and secular Nidaa Tounis parties, which form a coalition at national level, are expected to dominate the polls for 350 municipalities.

Tunisia has been hailed as the only democratic success of the Arab Spring uprising, because it toppled a long-serving autocrat, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, in 2011, without triggering major violence or a return to authoritarian rule.

But enthusiasm for democratic change has given way to anger over dire living standards, which have driven some Tunisians to make the dangerous sea crossing to Europe in search of work, or prompted a few to turn to militant Islam.

“I intended to boycott [the vote], but changed my mind at the last moment,” Mohamed Ali Abadi said.

“We are facing a lot of economic problems, but will continue in a democracy.”

The turnout seen at three polling stations in the capital Tunis was weak, with mostly elderly people voting.

“I want a job,” a young man, who gave his name as Ramzi, said as he sat in a cafe.

“No one cared for us in the past years and we suffer from unemployment.”

The main challenge will be to match voters’ expectations with municipal budgets in a country where the central government makes the main decisions about how and where money gets spent.

A new law envisages some decisionmaking being gradually devolved to the local government level, though it remains unclear how it will work. – Reuters