Tunisian polling stations close with less than 9 percent turnout

MADRID, 17 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Turnout in the legislative elections held this Saturday in Tunisia was 8.8 percent at the closing of the polling stations, according to official data from the Tunisian Independent Higher Electoral Authority, on a day marked by the call for abstention from the opposition.

The president of the Independent Superior Electoral Authority, Faruk Buaskar, has been in charge of giving the official participation data corresponding to 6:00 p.m., the scheduled closing time of the voting centers, with some 803,000 participants, according to the Tunisian station Mosaique. FM.

Buaskar has attributed this low turnout to a lack of funding from abroad to corrupt political movements and a lack of public resources, as well as recent changes in electoral law.

This participation figure is the lowest since the so-called Arab Spring in 2011 brought about a profound political change in Tunisia after decades of autocratic rule. The vote also coincides with the 12th anniversary of the death of street vendor Mohamed Buazizi, whose death after setting himself on fire in protest of police abuse triggered the wave of protests that shook the entire region.

These anticipated legislatures are the first since the country adopted a new Constitution, promoted by the president, Kais Saied, after arrogating all powers in 2021 and amid opposition complaints for its authoritarian drift, culminating in the opposition boycott of the elections.

Saied announced in July 2021 the dissolution of the Government and the suspension of the Parliament, later dissolved, in the framework of what he described as a response to the protests over the political and economic crisis, unleashing criticism from the Islamist Ennahda party -- the majority in the legislative body-- and other formations and causing alarm among various civil organizations.

Opponents such as the former deputy of the Islamist party Enhadda Saida Ounissi have assured the pan-Arab network that the low turnout in the parliamentary elections is an "important confirmation" of the disinterest of the majority of Tunisians towards the political road map launched by Saied.

"The numbers cannot lie and today was one of the biggest trials to see if the population supports the entire process after the 2021 coup," he added before denouncing the disconnect between the concerns of the President of the Republic and the expectations of the Majority of the population.

"People are concerned about economic problems and social reforms. It's not a problem of institutions or a problem of politics, it's about making economic decisions and this is the conversation we need to have in Tunisia and we're not having it in this authoritarian context. ", he lamented.