In Tunisia, voters silent in referendum on democracy
TUNIS, Tunisia — Voters in Tunisia massively shunned parliamentary elections seen as an important test for their president and their country’s troubled democracy, according to preliminary turnout figures Sunday. Independent observers reported scattered violations.
Turnout was just 11.3 percent of Tunisia’s 8 million voters, according to preliminary estimates from the national electoral commission. That is about the same level of participation as in the first round of voting last month.
Many disaffected Tunisians stayed away, and the influential Islamist party Ennahdha and other opposition movements boycotted.
The runoff elections were being watched around the Arab world. They’re seen as a conclusive step in President Kais Saied’s push to consolidate power, tame Islamist rivals and win back lenders and investors needed to save the teetering economy.
But the low turnout casts doubt on the future parliament’s legitimacy and could complicate Saied’s plans. Election officials are expected to announce the official preliminary results Wednesday.
Voters were choosing lawmakers to replace the last parliament, led by Ennahdha, which Saied suspended in 2021 and later disbanded. He then had the constitution rewritten to give more power to the president and less to the legislature.
Analysts note a growing crisis of confidence between citizens and the political class since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution unleashed Arab Spring uprisings across the region, and led Tunisians to create a new democratic political system once seen as a model.
It’s now seen as disintegrating. In the first-round elections, 10 candidates secured seats outright in the 161-seat parliament without winning any votes because they ran unopposed. No candidates bothered to run in seven constituencies; electoral officials say those seats will be filled in special elections at a later date.