Tunisia has been plunged into political uncertainty after it recorded the lowest electoral turnout in its recent history following President Kais Saied’s suspension of parliament and subsequent redrawing of the country’s political map.
Its main opposition alliance called on Saied to “leave immediately” as voters overwhelmingly snubbed the the legislative election in what officials at the country’s Instance Supérieure Indépendante pour les Élections (ISIE) said was a participation rate of 8.8%.
Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, president of Tunisia’s “Salvation Front” alliance, which boycotted the vote and has accused Saied of a coup against Tunisia’s democracy said the president had “lost all legal legitimacy”. An abstention rate of more than 91% “shows that very, very few Tunisians support Kais Saied’s approach”, Chebbi told Agence France-Presse.
Since suspending parliament in July of last year, Saied has introduced a new constitution, greatly reducing the prominence of the country’s political parties, who he characterised as enemies of the people. He reserved particular ire for the Ennahda movement, part of the opposition alliance, which has dominated the political scene since the country first led the wave of Arab Spring protests against autocracy in 2011.
In the place of traditional parties, on whom Saied has placed much of the blame for the withering economy and ingrained unemployment, the president has encouraged individuals to run in the election on programmes intended to serve their immediate community. The result, 1,055 self-funded candidates competing for 161 seats, led to a unique electoral contest, with many voters unsure of who was running and a number of constituencies only featuring a single candidate on the ballot.
“I came out to support a friend from the neighbourhood,” 19-year-old Omar said of his vote for the one candidate competing at the busy inner Tunis district around Rue de Marseille. “President Saied is bringing change to the country and I’ll always support that,” he told a translator.
With many political parties absent, the buildup to the vote was been remarkably low-key, with some voters not even aware that an election was taking place. “I don’t have any hope,” said dentist Lamia Kamoun, explaining that she hadn’t decided whether to vote. “I had hope in the country, not now … Things have got worse.”
By about 1pm on Saturday, two polling stations in the working-class district of Kabaria, near Tunis, had only recorded about 100 votes each, out of a possible 1,800 registered voters across both centres. One ISIE official there said that they had no intention of voting in an election they regarded as holding no significance. “This is just my job,” they said, gesturing around the empty schoolyard.
Closer to the city centre, near the city’s historic medina quarter, one polling station had only recorded about 40 voters out of a possible 900. Speaking from the booths, one official explained that the vote didn’t really stand comparison with previous elections, as it was a unique contest.
ISIE president, Farouk Bouasker, appeared to channel the rhetoric of Saied, who has made great play of conspiracies, attributing the low turnout to “the absence of corrupt political money”.
Initial results should be announced on Monday, with the final results not expected until January. The new body is not expected to sit before March, after tied or close contests are rerun.
Opposition groups have previously attacked Saied’s political programme, they had not before said he should quit office.
“What happened today is an earthquake,” Chebbi said. “From this moment we consider Saied an illegitimate president and demand he resign after this fiasco,” he said.
He added there should be a short transitional period under a judge followed by presidential elections and a national dialogue.
Max Gallien, from the Institute of Development Studies, said that Tunisia was “on track to deliver the lowest turnout of any election in modern global history, with half the participation of the previous record holders (Haiti 2015 at 18%, Afghanistan 2019 with 19%).”
