Tunisia: journalists call for state TV to be neutral during election campaigns

The National Union of Journalists in Tunisia has called for state television to be neutral in the election campaign ahead of the second round of the legislative election scheduled for 29 January, Anadolu has reported.

“The Independent High Authority for Elections [ISIE] is trying to control state television and direct the media coverage of the election through direct interference in media content,” the union claimed. “Subjugating Tunisian public television to the dictates of the ISIE is a flagrant violation of the independence of public media.”

ISIE spokesman Mohamed Tlili Mnasri confirmed on Sunday that, “It has been coordinated with state television to hold direct debates between the candidates, and that various details are currently being discussed between the executive management of the ISIE and state television.”

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The journalists’ union, however, claimed that, “The ISIE seeks, through its partnership with the Tunisian public television establishment, to carry out debates between candidates while the quality of questions and topics will be under its supervision.”

The election authority had not responded to a request for a statement by the time of publication of Anadolu’s original article.

The election will see 262 candidates competing for 131 seats in parliament. The first round of the election was held on 17 December, which produced 23 new MPs, including 3 women. There are 154 seats in the Tunisian parliament.

The legislative election is the latest of a series of exceptional measures imposed by President Kais Saied on 25 July, 2021. He has since dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and parliament, issued legislation by decree, and approved a new constitution through a referendum.