Tunisian parliament passes draft bill allowing security personnel participate in local elections

The Tunisian parliament passed on Tuesday a draft bill allowing the armed forces and police to vote in municipal elections scheduled for later this year.

The clause on security personnel voting was passed as part of a draft bill on municipal elections by 144 deputies. Eleven deputies rejected the clause and three abstained.

The draft bill was introduced in May 2016 but deliberations were suspended after the parliament failed to vote on it.

However, last week the Tunisian parliament decided to resume the discussions to speed up the local elections no later than the end of this year.

Tunisian Minister of Local Affairs and the Environment, Riadh Mouakher said earlier that the government intends to hold municipal elections in 2017.