The first round of the Tunisian legislative elections will be held next Saturday, December 17. But despite the move to a two-round single-member ballot, in rural areas like Beja in northern Tunisia, the campaign is of little interest to voters, who are preoccupied with economic issues.
The electoral campaign started on November 25 in Tunisia. They are some 1,058 candidates to pound the pavement, individuals with very diverse profiles have taken over the political parties as required by the new electoral law with the single-member two-round voting system.
But at the market in the city of Beja, a hundred kilometers from Tunis, customers talk more about rising prices and shortages than legislative candidates. Jamel is 61 years old, he followed the campaign but said he was disillusioned. “ It’s hard to find milk, gas, sugar, where are we going? he gets carried away. Are you talking to me about elections? But that’s the least of my worries. “Is he going to vote? ” Already if there is a participation rate that reaches 20%, it will be unexpected,” he believes.
Disillusioned voters
Sabeur, a vegetable seller for 25 years, no longer believes in the distribution of powers, even if those of the new Parliament are already very small. “ The solution is for the President of the Republic to be firmer and stronger, otherwise it is useless,” he says.
Dalila Melki, the agricultural worker, remains skeptical about the profiles of the candidates. “ Why am I going to vote? We have been suffocated by politicians, inequalities continue to widen while they are getting richer, ”she laments.
Indecision that also affects Hamdi Larbi, a 25-year-old parsley seller. “ What are they really going to bring to the country? What more are they going to give us? he wonders. I wonder if they will finally be able to meet the demands of young unemployed people who remain inactive.
Despite the promise made by President Kaïs Saïed of a new political system, closer to the people, the reality of the economic crisis and the 9.8% inflation rate has taken over the slogans of the electoral campaign.
