Few candidates run in Tunisian parliamentary elections
The first legislative elections under the new constitution are falling short on candidates, with some seats having no candidates at all, which some say shows a loss of faith in parliament under the current president.
TUNIS, Tunisia — The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) has for the first time extended the number of days to nominate parliamentary candidates. After the customary eight days, the number of successfully nominated candidates had not been reached, so the decision was taken to extend the nomination period by three days, finally closing nominations on Oct. 27.
After the deadline for submitting appeals closed, the ISIE announced that out of a total number of candidates filed (1,427), only 1,058 files were accepted — 936 male candidates and 122 female candidates. Of great concern are seats where no candidates at all have been nominated, including overseas seats in Asia and Australia. The results of the appeals will be announced on Nov. 22. These are low figures if compared to the number of votes cast in the 2019 legislative elections: 2,870,521.
