Tunisia’s main opposition coalition on Wednesday announced its members including the largest political party Ennahdha have decided to boycott December polls to replace a parliament dissolved by President Kais Saied, reported The TRT World.
“The elections will be held under the supervision of a body that is not neutral and is loyal to the ruling authority,” Ahmed Najib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front told a press conference in the capital Tunis.
Tunisia is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on Dec. 17, almost a year and a half after President Saied suspended the Ennahda-dominated assembly and sacked the government, later pushing through a new constitution.
Chebbi called for holding early elections in Tunisia as per the 2014 Constitution that should be supervised by an independent electoral commission that has the confidence of all parties.
“We extend our hand to all national forces to agree on a national salvation government to deal with the social crisis” in Tunisia, he said.
The National Salvation Front is a major opposition coalition consisting of Tunisia’s five political parties — Ennahda Movement, Heart of Tunisia Party, the Dignity Coalition, the Movement Party and Al-Amal Party
Chebbi said the move was in response to an electoral law written by Saied alone, part of a coup against constitutional legitimacy. He also accused the electoral commission of falsifying the results of a recent constitutional referendum.
Saied’s power grab was welcomed by a section of Tunisians, and opposed by opposition forces who alleged that his moves, culminating in a new constitution confirmed by a widely boycotted July referendum, amount to a return to autocracy.
Tunisia’s president will soon announce the new electoral law for December’s vote approaches.
At a meeting with the head of Tunisia’s electoral commission Farouk Bouasker on Monday, Mr Saied said groups that boycotted the July referendum would be excluded from consultations over the draft.
