Tunisia’s main opposition alliance leader on Sunday called out President Kais Saied to step down immediately, a day after voters overwhelming rejected elections for a neutered parliament, reported The Africa News.
According to the election board, a mere 8.8 percent of the voters had turned out for the polls on Saturday.
An abstention rate of more than 91 percent “shows that very, very few Tunisians support Kais Saied’s approach”, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, president of the National Salvation Front, told AFP.
He said the result showed rejection of the process that began when Saied, elected in 2019, seized executive powers last year. He said the president had lost all legal legitimacy. He added there should be a short transitional period under a judge followed by presidential elections and a national dialogue.
In July 2021, the president sacked the Tunisia’s government, and froze parliament, following months of political deadlock and economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The followed up by seizing control of the judiciary and pushing through a constitution that consolidates his near-absolute power in a widely boycotted referendum in July.
Under Saied’s new electoral law and constitution adopted in the July referendum, parliament’s strength has been greatly reduced. The new parliament has only 161 seats compared with 217 in the 2019 elections.
The National Salvation Front, made up of several political parties including the Islamist Ennahda which was the biggest party in the previous parliament, boycotted Saturday’s election, saying it was part of a “coup” against Tunisia’s democracy. It has now called for massive protests and sit-ins to demand fresh presidential elections.
The move comes as Tunisia’s government negotiates a nearly $2-billion package from the International Monetary Fund to bail out the Tunisia’s crippled public finances.
The second round of elections will be held towards the end of January and final election results could come as late as February.
