Tunisia: ex-president calls for dismissal of Saied and restoration of democracy

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has renewed his call for the dismissal of incumbent President Kais Saied and the restoration of the democratic process.

“Any politician with a drop of honour would resign after yet another low voter turnout in a legislative election,” said Marzouki on Twitter. “The mission of the people in all their groups is to accelerate the end of this ridiculous tragedy, to dismiss this man and to restore the democratic process.”

Just 11 per cent of eligible voters took part in the second round of the parliamentary election on Sunday. Opposition parties say that the nearly deserted polling stations reflected the public dissatisfaction with Saied’s grip on the executive, legislative and judicial arms of the government in Tunisia.

The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), one of the authorities over which Saied has complete control, said that the turnout on Sunday was 11.3 per cent. It claimed that the figure in the first round of the election in December was 11.2 per cent, although it has since been reported to have been just 8.8 per cent.

The parliamentary election was part of the road map that Saied announced after he took absolute control of the country on 25 July, 2021. That is when he imposed his exceptional measures and dismissed the government, dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and parliament, and started to issue legislation by presidential decree.

Tunisia: calls grow for president to step down after latest low election turnout