In the absence of political money… Did Saeed bet on people eager for politics?

At a time when Tunisians are preoccupied with dealing with the worsening economic and social conditions produced by the (10) years that the Ennahdha Brotherhood movement ruled Tunisia, with the continued loss of some foodstuffs, including milk and sugar, most of them refrained from going to the polls in order to vote for a new convocation of the parliament, in which the Ennahda movement, which has exhausted the country in recent years, and for which Tunisians demanded responsibility, will not participate.

In the fourth parliamentary elections since the revolution at the end of 2010, the head of the Independent High Electoral Authority of Tunisia announced that the initial turnout in the parliamentary elections that started yesterday was only 8.8%, which means that about (803) thousand people went to the polls. elections. their votes according to official preliminary figures.

Lack of political money

The head of the Independent High Electoral Body Farouk Bouaskar described the turnout as “modest but not shameful” and attributed it to the new voting system, the lack of paid election propaganda or corrupt and foreign political money to buy votes from voters, as happened in previous elections. as well as the underutilization of public resources.

Bouaskar attributed the low participation rate to the change in the electoral law and the adoption of the individual voting system, along with the influence of boycott calls made by numerous parties and components of the political scene in Tunisia.

Bouaskar indicated that the number of voters who cast their vote, which is estimated at around (803) thousand, is the number that the candidates managed to convince of their own abilities, as he said.

Since 2011, Tunisia has witnessed (4) legislative constituencies, starting with the elections for the National Constituent Assembly until the elections on 17 December 2022, which were held under a new constitution and a new electoral law that is also based on a system of voting for individuals and two sessions in in case of an equal number of votes, in contrast to the system of voting by lists, and the adoption of the largest remainder that was approved in the previous electoral law..

Deteriorating social conditions are the result of the 10 years during which the Ennahda Brotherhood movement ruled Tunisia

Turnout in the elections has been continuously declining, and the largest share was recorded in the parliamentary elections in 2014, which reached around 69%, before falling to 41.3% in 2019, and 8.8% during the current elections, not taking into account the first phase. which followed the revolution in 2011 by 54.1%.

No Ennahda movement and no immunity

The current election is the first since 2011 without the Ennahda Brotherhood movement, whose popular base has called for a boycott of the vote, at a time when justice is prosecuting some of its most prominent leaders, led by their leader Rashid Ghannouchi, on various charges, most of them related to terrorism issues and deportations of jihadists to hot spots, as well as for involvement in political assassinations and money laundering.

This and the new representatives will not enjoy immunity, after the new electoral law abolished legal immunity, and the citizen got the right to withdraw confidence in the representative in case of non-fulfillment of duties.

Previous parliamentary sessions have witnessed several alliances, sometimes called compromises, to pass some laws, oust governments and even delay the formation of constitutional institutions provided for in the 2014 constitution.

This angered Tunisians, who demanded accountability for the entire political system that followed the revolution, especially the Ennahda movement, and the closure of the previous parliament.

This polling station comes after a series of popular protests against the rule of the Ennahda Brotherhood movement in the country since 2011 and accusations against it of favoring the interests of the Brotherhood organization over the interests of Tunisia, and of political and financial corruption and the spread of terrorism..

Said bet on people eager for politics

President Kais Saied is betting strongly on the general segments of the Tunisian people, who over the past years have expressed their strong rejection of the political components that have accumulated successive disappointments and failed to achieve what they promised their voters, which deepened the gap between them and the Tunisians who are the effect political parties reduced to a struggle for gains and engagement.

Political components accumulated successive disappointments and failed to deliver what they promised their voters

This justified the state of joy that erupted from the decisions of July 25, 2021 among Tunisians who are tired of party conflicts, and President Kais Saeed took advantage of this gap between the parties that controlled the government and Tunisians, holding them responsible for the economic and social crisis in country. And he excluded her from his political project, which began with an electronic consultation, then a national dialogue, then a popular referendum, until the parliamentary elections that came after large price increases and the continuous loss of most basic consumer goods, for which the Ennahda movement was accused.

Even ordinary Tunisians at some point in their political activity considered the word “party” to be a kind of “political and social stigma, because some parties gathered corrupt businessmen and tax evaders”.

Moreover, the country is experiencing a financial crisis that has affected people’s lives, and prices have risen due to the change in the policy of subsidizing some basic materials, and some have disappeared from the market, and the government has launched a broad campaign against speculators in the food market, and the local currency has recorded significant decline..

The opposition is chasing the dream of returning to the scene

Immediately after the turnout was announced, the Ennahda Brotherhood Movement in Tunisia published a post on its official Facebook page, thanking Tunisians for boycotting the vote.

All opposition party leaders quickly posted on social media, calling for early legislative and presidential elections and calling for the immediate resignation of President Saeed.

The National Salvation Front opposition coalition, led by the Ennahdha Brotherhood movement, called on President Kais Saied to resign, saying: He has lost legitimacy after elections with a very low turnout that did not reach 9%.

The front, which includes parties, most notably the Islamist Ennahda party, called for “mass protests and demonstrations” to demand new presidential elections.

The leader of the Front, Najib al-Shabi, said: What happened today is an earthquake, continuing: “From this moment, we consider Said an illegitimate president and demand that he resign after this deplorable failure.” He added that there should be a short transitional period, and later the appointment of a judge who organizes the presidential elections and the national dialogue.

Brotherhood leaders published satirical publications on the turnout, citing President Said’s failure to convince Tunisians to go to the polls at a time when Tunisia is going through a severe economic crisis, which observers attribute to the accumulation of government failures that followed the revolutions, during the rule of the Ennahda Brotherhood movement.

The hardline Dignity Coalition, which is close to Ennahda, released a statement calling for the immediate resignation of Saied and calling for early legislative and presidential elections.

The main concern of (12) million Tunisians, including (9) million registered voters, remains the high cost of living, with inflation at around 10%, and frequent shortages of some food items in stores, including milk and sugar.

Related topics

– The Tunisian initiative to support Said’s path in confronting political Islam.. What did it say?

– Former leader of Ennahda: Ghannouchi overthrew democracy…and the movement is on the way to extinction