Only 11.84% of voters participated in the first round of the Tunisian (European) local elections.

The second round of local elections began this Sunday morning in Tunisia to choose members of the second chamber of Parliament, according to the electoral system approved by the constitution.

This round is devoted to selecting one of the candidates who did not receive a majority of votes in the first round held on December 24 last year.

The Supreme Elections Authority said that half of the registered voters are interested in participating in this round because the results were decided in the remaining districts in the first round.

It also announced that all polling stations in the second round of the local council elections were opened on time (today) without delay.

In press statements during the announcement of the final results of the first round, Farouk Bouaskar, head of the Independent High Authority for Elections, said that the second round concerns 254 local councils and 779 electoral districts, and the number of candidates is 1,558, including 160 women.

According to the Supreme Elections Authority, the number of winners in the first round reached 1,349 candidates out of a total of 7,205 candidates, including 6,177 candidates for direct elections, and 1,028 candidates for the lottery process for 279 seats designated for people with disabilities, distributed in the form of one seat in each local council.

According to the Commission, one million and 74 thousand and 880 voters participated in the first round, with a percentage of only 11.84% of the number of voters registered on the electoral lists, which prompted opposition parties to consider it “a farce that must be stopped.”

A number of opposition parties boycotted it, including the National Salvation Front, the Workers' Party, and the Afek Tounes Party. While the loyalist parties, including the People’s Movement, the Tunisia Forward Movement, and the Popular Movement, expressed their support.

Since July 25, 2021, the country has been witnessing a political crisis, when President Kais Saied began imposing exceptional measures, including dissolving the Judicial Council and Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential orders, approving a new constitution through a referendum in July 2022, and holding early legislative elections in December. December of the same year, and last January.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies