Tunisia hopes to break through barriers with polls

Tunisia is hoping to break through barriers with its first local election since the 2011 Arab uprisings – a vote that could produce the first female mayor of the capital and the first Jewish official with a Muslim party.

The North African country is trying to consolidate its young democracy with today’s election, in which Tunisia’s 5.3 million voters will choose local leadership from 2,000 lists of candidates.

The top vote-getters are expected to come from the Muslim Ennahdha party and President Beji Caid Essebsi’s moderate secular Nida Tunis party, which govern in a coalition.

But nearly half of the candidate lists are from independent groups that are promising to address local problems.

Other candidates are focusing on voters frustrated by political elites and successive governments that many feel have failed to live up to promises of the 2011 uprising.

Tunisia has gone through a rocky transition to a democratic system regarded as exceptional in a region dominated by authoritarian leaders.

More than half of the candidates are under 35 and 49 per cent are women, a rarity in the Arab world. Eighteen lists are led by disabled candidates.

Among the most prominent candidates is Souad Abderrahim, the woman seeking to become the next mayor of Tunis.

A pharmacist, former legislator and feminist activist, she is an independent who considers herself close to the Muslim party and is running against 10 men.

Ms Abderrahim calls her candidacy “a source of pride for Tunisia women”. Tunisia has long been considered among the most liberal Muslim countries in terms of women’s rights, but traditional views remain strong in some quarters and fundamentalism has resurfaced since the uprising.

“My conviction is that Tunisia is for everyone and the constitution explains that Tunisians are equal in rights and responsibilities, independent of their sex, religion or colour,” Ms Abderrahim said.

She is promising to put soap in every school bathroom to

improve public health, make day care more accessible, plant more trees and revitalise the city’s Unesco-recognised cultural heritage sites such as the walled old town of Tunis, the Medina.

Another unusual candidate is Simon Slama, a Jew from the town of Monastir running with Ennahdha, who has stressed the importance of Tunisia’s tolerance and cultural diversity.

The elections are considered to be an important step in decentralising power beyond Tunis and handing more powers to town councils across the country, from Mediterranean beach resorts to struggling desert towns.

The results are expected to suggest where the country is heading politically before presidential and parliamentary elections next year.

For the first time, security forces have taken part in the vote. In the past, Tunisia’s leaders considered it dangerous for police and soldiers to take political positions but the change is part of Tunisia’s democratic shift.

The media were not allowed to cover their voting, which took place a week ahead of time, to ensure their political views were not publicly known.

Electoral authorities focused on encouraging Tunisia’s young people, whose high unemployment rates have led to disillusionment, to vote.