The high abstention rate in the second round of the Tunisian parliamentary elections, which took place on Sunday, sparked the interaction of the pioneers of social networking sites, and the defeat of Ahmed Shaftar, the chief supporter of President Kais Saied, received wide echoes on Tunisian platforms, amid a state of ridicule.

According to the numbers revealed by the Independent Higher Authority for Elections, only 887,639 people cast their votes out of a total of 7 million 800 thousand registered voters, according to preliminary results, according to what the head of the authority, Farouk Bouaskar, said in a press conference last night.

The participation rate reached 11.22% in the first session, which is the weakest voter turnout since the beginning of the democratic transition in 2011 after the collapse of the regime of the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

In light of a complex political and economic crisis, and indications pointing to the weakest voter turnout since the revolution, voting took place in the second round of the Tunisian parliamentary elections |

Report: Fathi Ismail # Al-Akhbar pic.twitter.com/tS3wm1zOUZ

- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) January 30, 2023

Pictures and positions

With the start of the polls, journalists and activists circulated many pictures of the polling stations, which were empty and devoid of voters. Even Tunisian journalist Bassam Bonini published a picture that summarized the situation and commented on it: "20 journalists and a single voter."

#Tunisia Twenty journalists and a single voter pic.twitter.com/XRKyGLv00k

Bassam Bounenni (@bbounenni) January 29, 2023

As evidence of the boycott of the elections, the response of an elderly woman to the question of the official National Channel One reporter, regarding her participation and the polling atmosphere, was widely circulated.

The woman said that she was taken from the nursing home to the polling station, referring to her lack of knowledge of this, and to the employment of state institutions to "success" the electoral process.

Commenting on the results, Tunisian journalist and writer Wejdan Bouabdallah said that the participation rate in the legislative elections in its first and second rounds is the lowest in the world.

In a previous post, Bouabdallah considered that the winners in this scene are the ones who bet on the failure of the Arab Spring and paid a lot for its downfall.

They won, I mean those who bet on the failure of the Arab Spring and paid a lot for its downfall. I can tell you: you won.

But does betting on dictatorship give you a sense of satisfaction and superiority?

Is mediocrity what you want?

I wonder and do not expect answers.

I have given up on everything

- Wejdene Bouabdallah (@tounsiahourra) January 29, 2023

Fail and claim

As for the journalist, Asmaa Al-Bakush, she considered that the matter can be summed up simply and clearly, in the fact that the voting system for individuals is a failure and that there are no elections and political life without parties, and she continued that the electoral reservoir of youth that voted for you has ended, Mr. President.

The low participation rate is considered a negative indicator of the project of President Qais Saied, who has monopolized the authorities in the country since July 25, 2021.

Former Tunisian President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki considered that any politician with an iota of honor (should) resign after this fourth slap, and stressed that the task of the people of all sects is to hasten the end of this ridiculous tragedy, dismiss this man (President Said) and restore the democratic path.

Saied assumed power on July 25, 2021, by freezing the work of parliament and later dissolving it, and approving a new constitution following a referendum last summer that ended the political system in place since 2014.

Any politician who has an iota of honor would resign after this fourth slap and the


fourth stripping of all legitimacy of the coup...


But to whom do you read in the Zaburak O David...

The task of the people of citizens in all its sects is to hasten the end of this ridiculous tragedy, to dismiss this man, and to restore the democratic path pic.twitter.com/bAhxXy3hjK

- Moncef Marzouki - Moncef Marzouki (@MMarzouki01) January 30, 2023

The president justified his decision at the time by disrupting the wheel of the state against the backdrop of intense conflicts between the political blocs in Parliament.

The new parliament will have very few powers, as it cannot, for example, dismiss the president or hold him accountable.

The president has priority in proposing bills.

The new constitution does not require that the government appointed by the president obtain the confidence of Parliament.

What do you think of the Tunisian legislative elections, which are taking place in their second round today?

Why are the majority of Tunisian people not interested in voting?

Details in #Alif_J#Tunisia @Rawaak pic.twitter.com/t6mpG2SIaC

- Al Jazeera O2 (@AlJazeeraO2) January 29, 2023

Elections and betting

In his reading of this situation, the Tunisian writer and researcher in international relations and political Islam, Jalal Al-Warghi, considered that Qais Saeed bet on elections that he engineered himself to legitimize his coup against the constitution and establish pseudo institutions that he controls and submits to, but the Tunisian people had a different opinion and boycotted the elections by 90%. .

Al-Warghi indicated that free peoples cannot be lured into a trap-like fund to return them to individual rule.

#Tunisia #Qais_Saeed bet on #elections that he engineered himself to legitimize his coup against the #constitution and establish pseudo institutions that control and submit to it, but the #Tunisian_people had a different opinion and boycotted the elections by 90 percent..Free people cannot be lured into a fund that looks like a trap, to return them to individual rule# Down_coup_in_Tunisia pic.twitter.com/wwC2SGNBEv

- Jalel Ouerghi Jalal Ouerghi (@jalelouerghi) January 29, 2023

Comments were not limited to Tunisians. Arab tweeters and activists were interested in what is happening in Tunisia, which for many years represented the icon of the Arab revolutions. On this matter, writer and political analyst Yasser Zaatara said that the second round of Tunisia's parliamentary elections repeats the worst participation rate in the world.

which was witnessed in the first round, and indicated that the new percentage did not exceed 11.3%;

despite the crowd.

Zaatara considered that the people confirm their position: there is no legitimacy for the coup, and there is no market for its "populism" anymore.

The second round of Tunisia's parliamentary elections repeats the worst participation rate in the world;

which took place in the first round.


The new rate did not exceed 11.3%.

despite the crowd.


The people affirm their position: There is no legitimacy for the coup, and there is no market for its "populism" anymore.


What's Next?


Said's fate is in the hands of the army;

Unless the people impose their own path.

- Yasser Al-Zaatreh (@YZaatreh) January 29, 2023

262 candidates competed for 131 seats in the new parliament (out of 161), during elections that represent the final stage of a road map imposed by President Kais Saied, the most prominent of which is the establishment of a strengthened presidential system similar to the situation before the Tunisian revolution.

The failure of Ahmed Shafter, a member of the interpretative campaign for the project of the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed, to obtain a seat in the new parliament, received wide attention, as many considered that the failure of Shafter, who is known as the "chief commentator", is a blow to the president's political project.

On this matter, human rights activist and journalist Naziha Rajiba (known as Umm Ziyad) commented: Defeat within defeat, Shafter was defeated.

For his part, Salem Al-Abyad, a politician and professor of sociology at Tunisian universities, said in his comment on the matter that the city of Zarzis (Shafter's constituency) excommunicates populism and explanatory illusions and confirms the end of the legitimacy and legitimacy of the president.

Activist Dr. Zakir Al-Alahib wrote, on his Facebook account, in a sarcastic tone, "I am sure that the president will issue a decree in the third round in order to save the chief commentator," referring to Ahmed Shafter.

It is noteworthy that the parties opposing President Kais Saied have boycotted the elections that took place with the system of voting on individuals, since the first round, and they are calling for Saied to step down from power and to cancel the 2022 constitution that he drafted through a referendum, greatly enhancing the powers of the president.