Tunisia - January 2023

Continued low turnout in second round of parliamentary elections

Tunisia held the second round of its parliamentary elections on 29 January amid growing calls from the opposition and civil society for the cancellation of the electoral process. The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) announced that the turnout in the second round of the legislative elections amounted to 11.4 per cent, up from 8.8 per cent in the first round. However, this level of electoral participation is a significant decline compared with the 2019 elections which had 41.7 per cent turnout. Opposition leaders attribute the low turnout to public dissatisfaction with recent policy changes, which have been criticized for being authoritarian-leaning.

Sources: North Africa Post, Al Jazeera, Middle East Monitor The Washington Post