Monday 27 October 2014

Tunisia Votes for New Parliament

More than five million Tunisians were expected to vote Sunday in the first democratic parliamentary elections since the 2011 revolution which heralded the advent of the "North African spring".


The birthplace of the "Arab Spring" is voting to choose its first parliament. The exercise is being seen as Tunisia's first major step towards democracy following the revolution in 2011.


More than five million Tunisians were expected to choose their representatives in 12,000 polling stations across the country, where voting began at 7:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m. GMT) and was scheduled to last until 6 p.m. local time. Results are expected shortly after.

Security was tightened and more than 70,000 troops were stationed across the country for fear of Islamist attacks. The next round of elections for the president will take place on November 23.

Citizens will select 217 leaders from 13,000 candidates representing more than 90 political parties for the country's legislature.

Favourites for this year's elections include the Islamist movement Ennahda (renaissance), which was revived after democratic reforms in 2011. Ennahda had been banned by the former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's government.


Ennahda became a major political force and soon after won the country's first free election to a constitutional council in 2011. However, major rifts were revealed between the Islamist party and other secular groups like the Nidaa Tounes. ...AllAfrica

No comments:

Post a Comment

We reserve the right to delete any message found vulgarizing. Avoid crude or indecent texts..