Tunisia Votes in Parliamentary Elections Today

Tunisia's Polling stations opened Sunday for parliamentary elections to allow people to vote in legislative elections.

Anis Jarboui, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE), said in a statement on Saturday that all procedures have been taken in cooperation with the National Army and the Ministry of Interior to secure polling stations.

Jarboui called on Tunisians to vote in the legislative elections, expressing his hope that the turnout will exceed the percentage recorded in the first round of the presidential elections held on September 15.

The number of voters eligible to vote in these elections is 7 million, 65 thousand and 307 voters, while the total number of polling stations is 13 thousand and 830 offices inside and outside Tunisia.

Noteworthy, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi died last July aged 92. The first round of the presidential election was scheduled on November 17, but due to the death of Essebsi on July 25, the ISIE decided to postpone it.

Essebsi won office in 2014. He emerged from retirement to seek the presidency at the age of 88, presenting his centrist movement as a bulwark against rising Islamic fundamentalism and political chaos that rocked Tunisia after the people’s revolt overthrew a longtime dictator and unleashed similar movements throughout the region.