Tunisians cast their ballots in local polls mired in confusion and apathy
▶ Observers have said turnout could be even lower than last year’s election, when only 11.2 per cent voted
Tunisians headed to the polls yesterday for elections to decide the composition of the House of Regions and Districts, the second chamber of the country’s legislature.
The election is part of a disputed political structure introduced alongside a new constitution by President Kais Saied last year.
During the election, 6,177 candidates are running for seats in 2,155 electoral districts, and more than nine million people are eligible to vote.
Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections said only 13.4 per cent of the candidates are women.
About 280 local councils, each with seven members, will be voted on and formulated after the elections.
The local councils form the House of Regions and Districts, the second chamber of Tunisia’s parliament as part of its new parliamentary system.
This chamber will have 79 MPs, to be chosen by the local council representatives elected in yesterday’s vote.
These MPs will change every three months through the same process.
The local councils will be in charge of setting development plans for their constituencies, which would then be submitted to the country’s parliament.
Due to the lack of clarity surrounding the new parliamentary body and its function, as well as the complicated electoral process, observers have voiced fears of an even lower turnout than at last year’s election to the House of Representatives, where only 11.2 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot, the lowest since 2011.
Opposition parties announced they would boycott yesterday’s vote, saying it would only cement Mr Saied’s rule under the political system introduced after he dismissed the government in July 2021 and parliament months later.
Many Tunisians have voiced confusion about and disinterest in the electoral process.
The political apathy in Tunisia has been aggravated by an economic crisis and shortages of basic goods, especially food and fuel.
“I knew that there was some sort of elections taking place, but I do not bother or pay attention any more,” Sana, 28, told The National.
“I know that giving my voice is important but no one [candidate] is convincing or showing leadership traits for me to say that this person is worth it,” she added.
Sana, a teacher, said the lack of clarity and absence of political will among people who have been in power over the past few years have sent her into “carelessness mode”.
“They say that they want to eradicate corruption and make our lives better, but they never actually tell us how they will do that,” she said.
“As a citizen, I want something clear.”
At a polling centre at the Rue de Marseille primary school in Tunis, fewer than 20 people had shown up to vote every hour.
But those Tunisians who did turn out said they had hope things could change.
“The Tunisian citizen has lost hope, but we cannot all lose hope if we want our country to progress,” Mohsen Ezzine, 55, told The National.
He said he had been following the political process and understood what these elections could lead to.
“I would not give my voice randomly; if I did not know the candidate I would not have voted,” he said.
For Boujemaa Mouelhi, 65, participating in elections is a national duty that should not be taken lightly.
“Elections are a national duty and it is important to vote for the candidate that will represent us citizens,” he said, after casting his ballot.
He voiced hope that these elections would solve local problems, such as deteriorating infrastructure.
“We need to have faith in the process, we have nothing to lose.
“The path that we are taking is good, and our President is doing what is right for us.”
Growing political apathy has been aggravated by an economic crisis and shortages of basic goods such as food and fuel
Next year will see the most elections held in history – in what could prove to be a decisive 12 months for the decades that follow.
More than 50 countries are going to the polls in the next 12 months for a variety of presidential and legislative elections.
And more than two billion people are eligible to vote.
The countries include India, the world’s largest democracy and most populous country, and the US, the most powerful country in the world.
India
The world’s largest democracy will vote in a general election between April and May.
All 543 members of parliament, who represent India’s 1.4 billion people, will be up for election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running for another five-year term.
He heads the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The party’s previous campaigns have rested on the pillars of political Hinduism, nationalism and welfare campaigns targeted at the country’s poorest citizens.
The combination proved a winning formula in 2014 and 2019, and the BJP is the favourite to win again.
The main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, lost power to the BJP in recent state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which were seen as indicators for the vote.
Congress will be contesting the election as part of a 28-party coalition.
The opposition accuses Mr Modi and the BJP of institutional corruption, cronyism and being anti-Muslim, presenting him as a danger to the country’s democratic institutions.
Indonesia
Campaigning is under way in Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy and most populous Muslimmajority country.
The country will go to the polls on February 14.
More than 200 million people are eligible to vote in a country of nearly 280 million.
Current President Joko Widodo has served two terms and cannot stand for re-election, with three vying to succeed him.
Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is currently leading in the polls. He lost out to Mr Widodo in 2014 and 2019 but is seen as having the tacit backing of the outgoing President. He leads the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party and has picked Mr Widodo’s son and the mayor of Surakarta, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his running mate.
Mr Subianto is being challenged by Ganjar Pranowo, who leads the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, and Anies Baswedan, an academic who was mayor of Jakarta between 2017 and 2021.
Pakistan
Pakistan is set to go to the polls on February 8 in an election rife with uncertainty. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been formally disqualified from running again after being convicted of corruption charges.
Khan rejects the accusations and says he will run for election, despite being in jail since August.
He came to power in 2018 after his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, won 32 per cent of the vote.
Khan was removed from office after a no-confidence vote in April 2022. He accuses Pakistan’s military establishment of orchestrating his removal.
One of the PTI’s main electoral rivals is the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif, who succeeded Khan as prime minister between April and August 2022.
Nawaz Sharif served three non-consecutive terms as prime minister and was in exile until this year, after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption in 2018.
The PTI and PML-N will be challenged by the Pakistan People’s Party, run by the Bhutto dynasty, whose power base is in the southern Sindh province. A host of other parties are also expected to win votes.
Turkey
Local elections are being held across Turkey in March.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is flying high after winning re-election this year.
Mr Erdogan defeated opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a presidential run-off in May, continuing his 20-year dominance of Turkish politics as prime minister and then President.
Mr Erdogan triumphed with 52.18 per cent of the vote, despite critics blaming his economic policies for crashing the Turkish lira and exacerbating the country’s cost of living crisis.
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) controls the councils of the capital Ankara and largest city Istanbul, both of which are up for election this March.
Istanbul’s Mayor, the CHP’s Ekrem Imamoglu, has an influential voice.
He is an outspoken critic of Mr Erdogan, but may not be able to stand for re-election after he was sentenced to jail for insulting officials on the country’s electoral council. He is appealing the conviction. Key issues include rampant inflation, migration and a potential restoration of ties with Syria.
US
The US presidential election will take place on November 5.
Neither the Democrats nor Republicans have formally chosen their candidate, but it is likely to be a repeat of the 2020 contest, with President Joe Biden running for re-election against former president Donald Trump.
The Republican Party primaries will take place between next month and June. Mr Trump is seen as the runaway favourite to win the nomination despite challenges from former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others.
Playing an equal role will be the US court system. Mr Trump faces four felony trials ranging from his mishandling of classified documents to attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. No serious challenge to Mr Biden from within the Democratic Party has emerged and the President is likely to contest the poll despite concerns over his age.
Mr Biden is 81, making him the oldest president in US history, while Mr Trump is 77.
Opinion polls put Mr Biden and Mr Trump neck and neck, although these have been notoriously unreliable in the past.
UK
Britain will have its first general election in five years, with the ruling Conservative Party looking like they are heading towards defeat.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed the poll will happen within the next 12 months, but it is now a question of whether he will call it in the spring or autumn.
With the Conservatives consistently more than 15 points behind in opinion polls, most political analysts believe that he will delay until the later date, probably in October.
Mr Sunak’s hope is that the next 10 months will see a significant improvement in the economy with inflation further dropping and prosperity growing giving him a chance to remain in Downing Street.
But he faces significant headwinds getting his Rwanda deportation law through parliament with right-wing Conservatives thinking it not tough enough and liberal Tories thinking it is too harsh.
The internal ructions will only increase the lead of Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, which has been in opposition for 13 years.
In the US, Democrats and Republicans have yet to choose a candidate, but election is probably to be a repeat of 2020