Tunisian voters overwhelmingly shunned the polls on Sunday according to preliminary figures, as this year’s legislative elections are seen as a major test for their president and the country’s democracy.
The turnout was only 11.3%, out of 8 million Tunisian voters, according to preliminary estimates by the national electoral commission. That’s about the same level of turnout as in the first round of voting last month.
Many disgruntled Tunisians have not moved and several opposition movements – including the influential Islamist party Ennahda – have called for a boycott. Election officials will announce official preliminary results on Wednesday.
This second round of elections was closely watched in the Arab world, as President Kais Saied tries to consolidate his power, calm his Islamist opponents and seduce the lenders and investors needed to save the country’s faltering economy.
But the low turnout casts doubt on the legitimacy of the future parliament and could complicate Mr Saied’s plans.
Voters were called upon to choose lawmakers to replace the last parliament, led by Ennahda, which Mr. Saied dissolved. He then had the Constitution rewritten to give more power to the president and less to the legislature.
Analysts note a growing crisis of trust between citizens and the political class since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution sparked the Arab Spring uprisings across the region and led Tunisians to establish a democratic system.
In the first-round elections, 10 of the 161 seats were won by default, as the candidates had no opponents.
In seven other constituencies, no candidate has bothered to run and election officials say those seats will be filled in by-elections at a later date.
Several independent organizations reported irregularities in Sunday’s vote.
In a statement, the associations Chahed (Witness) and Mourakiboun (Controllers) indicated that some polling station managers refused to give their observers access to data on turnout rates or the number of voters in their constituencies. .
Chahed also denounced violations of rules prohibiting campaigning on Election Day and argued that authorities used administrative vehicles to transport voters to polling stations.
The vice-president of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, Amira Mohamed, told Mosaique radio that journalists had been barred from some polling stations, contrary to electoral rules.
Electoral commission member Maher Jedidi dismissed claims of wrongdoing but agreed there may have been “isolated cases”.
Mr. Saied and his supporters have argued that his overhaul of the system is necessary to end the political stalemate that they say is deepening economic and social crises. Unemployment exceeds 18%, the growing budget deficit has led to shortages of basic supplies and the International Monetary Fund has stalled negotiations on a new loan requested by the Tunisian government.