Tunisians vote in second round of poll
Tunisia, The Gulf Observer: Tunisia holds the second round of elections for a parliament, with voters preoccupied by economic woes and turnout seen as crucial in the politically divided nation.
A total of 262 candidates are competing on Sunday for 131 seats from Tunisia’s 161-member legislature, which was largely stripped of its powers following a series of extraordinary measures launched by President Kais Saied on July 25, 2021.
Saied sacked the government and froze parliament before dissolving it and changing the constitution, abolishing the hybrid parliamentary system that had been in place since 2014.
The latest polls, whose first round in December saw just 11.2 percent of registered voters take part, are seen as the final pillar of Saied’s transformation of politics in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
The new legislature will have almost no power to hold the president to account.
“I don’t plan to vote,” said Ridha, a carpenter in the capital Tunis who declined to provide his surname. “I can’t trust anyone anymore.”
Analysts predict low turnout again among Tunisia’s 7.8 million eligible voters for the second round as major parties including Saied’s arch-rivals, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha, hold a boycott.
Youssef Cherif, director of Columbia Global Centers in Tunis, said “this parliament will have very little legitimacy, and the president, who is all-powerful thanks to the 2022 constitution, will be able to control it as he sees fit.”
