The propaganda campaign for Tunisia’s legislative elections slated for 17 December has launched in the North African country on Friday.
According to the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), the propaganda campaign for the parliamentary elections will start on Friday, and the electoral silence is set to begin on 14 December, three days before the election.
Since the early morning hours, candidates have started posting videos on social media platforms, including featuring the content of their electoral programmes. Meanwhile, the spaces designated for propaganda on the country’s roads and squares are still free of advertisements, according to Anadolu Agency’s reporter.
On 3 November, the ISIE announced the acceptance of 1,058 candidacy applications for the legislative elections, who will compete for 161 seats in the House of Representatives.
On Wednesday, the election campaign began abroad, while it witnessed a total absence of candidates in seven of ten constituencies.
In mid-September, President Kais Saied amended the electoral law issued in 2014. The amendment adopted the voting method on individuals instead of lists, besides adopting the principle of withdrawing a proxy and reducing the number of deputies from 217 to 161, including ten deputies representing the community abroad.
Twelve parties announced their boycott of the elections, namely: Ennahda (53 deputies of the dissolved Parliament), Heart of Tunisia (28 deputies), the Dignity Coalition (18 deputies), Movement Party, Al Amal, Republican Party, Workers’ Party, Democratic Modernist Pole, Democratic Current (22 deputies), the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties, Free Destourian Party (16 deputies) and Afek Tounes (two deputies).
Most participants in the elections are independents, in addition to the parties of “Let the People Win”, which includes the People’s Current Party, the People’s Movement, the 25 July Movement and the Tunisia Forward Movement.
The upcoming early legislative elections are one of the president’s exceptional measures, which were preceded by the dissolution of Parliament and the Supreme Judicial Council, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, and the approval of a new Constitution after a referendum held on 25 July.
