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Tunisia awaits languid election for powerless parliament

Tunisian opposition parties have urged a boycott of Saturday's poll, which they say is part of a 'coup' against the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring
— Tunis (AFP)

Tunisians go to the polls Saturday to elect a parliament largely stripped of its powers, under a hyper-presidential system installed by the head of state Kais Saied after his power grab last year.

Over a decade since Tunisia's popular revolution unseated dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition parties have urged a boycott of the vote, which they say is part of a "coup" against the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

The election for the new 161-seat assembly comes after President Saied froze the previous legislature on July 25 last year, following months of political crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

He later dissolved the parliament, which had long been dominated by his nemesis the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party.

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