A few days separate the Tunisians from the legislative elections. This vote, which is supposed to give new hope to Tunisian democracy, is for some parties, a sword in the water.
Galloping inflation, fragile infrastructure, collapsing purchasing power, Tunisians find themselves, on the eve of an unprecedented election, between the hammer of successive governments that hardly respond to their aspirations and the anvil of an acute economic crisis. and which settles over time.
More than 11 years after a so-called “Arab” spring, filled with hopes, the citizens’ demands have remained until now, a dead letter.
Elections are held almost every year in the hope of implementing reforms to improve an asphyxiating situation for a good part of the population who ”sees almost everything black”.
The country of the “Jasmine Revolution” is in the grip of an unprecedented economic, social and political crisis, where unemployment is in full swing, the budget deficit is widening and investments are at half-mast.
A few days separate the Tunisians from the legislative elections, a fourth post-revolution legislative election.
The first electoral meeting that took place in 2011 and ended with the election of a Constituent Assembly. A “revolutionary” Constitution was then promulgated in February 2014, followed by legislative elections in 2014 and 2019.
The current elections, described as “early”, come in a context of acute political crisis, in particular since July 25, 2021, when Saïd imposed a series of “exceptional measures”, including the dissolution of Parliament and of the Judicial Council, the promulgation of laws by presidential decree, the dismissal of the head of government and the appointment of another in his place, the adoption of a new Constitution by referendum on July 25 and the organization of legislative elections on December 17, 2022.
– Tunisia put to the test by a suffocating economic crisis
For several months, growing frustration and pessimism have dominated the country. Basic products (milk, white sugar, pasta) and many foodstuffs are lacking everywhere.
On the shelves of supermarkets, packets of milk, pasta, and rice are frequently unavailable, and even when they are, sell for a maximum of two units per customer.
Almost empty stalls at times, these successive shortages affecting various products have become the daily bread of Tunisians, who have been living for months at this pace and to which they are trying to adapt.
State-subsidized milk is almost gone. Indeed, these supply disruptions affected several industrial sectors, where several companies found themselves at a standstill, after a series of shortages.
Forced to put the key under the doormat, traders, even entire families, have lost their livelihood.
Moreover, this situation degenerated a month ago, with protests in certain working-class neighborhoods such as Ettadhamen and Intilaka (western outskirts of the capital) at the initiative of the Ennahdha movement and other opposition parties. , as well as across the country to denounce the policy followed by President Kais Saied and his government, accused by certain parties of being at the origin of this economic crisis.
Angry, the protesters demanded urgent reforms and called for the departure of the President, against a backdrop of deteriorating living conditions.
Crossed in the streets of downtown Tunis, Zina Azizi, a Tunisian resident in Germany, told Anadolu Agency that she participated in the 2019 legislative elections and exercised her right to vote, but today Today, she did not hide her hesitation to participate in the elections due to the situation which continues to deteriorate in the country at different levels.
“The extra cost of living in Tunisia weighs on Tunisians compared to other countries,” she said.
For his part, Wissam Hamdi, a journalist interviewed by AA on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, pointed out that ”the legislative elections could record abstentions, unlike previous elections which took place in an electoral context marked by revolutionary moments”.
”The elections are organized at the wrong time, given the particular economic and social situation that Tunisia is going through. This is not the best way to improve the current situation,” said the journalist.
In addition, Mohamed Boughanmi, another citizen interviewed by AA, says he is not ready to vote on December 17. He regrets having lost confidence in the entire political class.
”Politicians have only caused problems and crises for Tunisians”, he insisted. And to add, “we have learned in the past that these people only want to take power and win seats in Parliament against fixed salaries”.
– Voting is a duty
On the other hand, Mohamed, a septuagenarian, recalls that “taking part in the elections is a duty, and that everyone must imperatively go to the polling stations on polling day”.
”We have to answer it now. Even with a blank vote,” he said, noting that ‘the difficult situation we have reached today is due to other Tunisians who led us to this crisis when they chose their deputies badly’. ‘.
For him, the failure of several governments has created among Tunisian youth a palpable reluctance to participate in political life.
”I invite them to forget the past and look to the future. They are the ones who will carry the torch. Tunisia will survive. You have to be optimistic despite everything,” he concluded.
In October 2022, the inflation rate increased slightly to 9.2% after having crossed 9.1% in the previous month”, and this, in a context of continuous fluctuation in terms of the availability of local basic products and the increase in their prices on a global scale, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Tunisia (INS, governmental).
The outstanding public debt reached 107.8 billion dinars in Tunisia (34 billion US dollars), which represents 85.5% of GDP, at the end of 2021 (Amending Finance Law 2021), according to the Ministry of Finance.
The economic and social crisis that the country is going through has left its mark on the political scene. The electoral campaign launched on November 25 is indifferent and hilarious to most Tunisians on social networks and even many politicians who have chosen to boycott these elections.
– Legislative: the political class is boycotting
Tunisian forces have denounced Decree-Law No. 2022-55 of September 15, 2022 amending Organic Law No. 2014-16 of May 26, 2014, relating to elections and referendums issued by the Head of State, which, according to them, did not dialogue with the parties and civil society.
According to the first article of the presidential decree, voters are called on Saturday, December 17 to the polls to elect the members of the House of People’s Representatives. Voters residing abroad will choose their elected officials on Thursday, Friday and Saturday 15, 16 and 17, 2022.
Indeed, five Tunisian parties have announced their boycott of the legislative elections. These are the Republican Party, the Labor Party, the Modernist Democratic Pole, the Democratic Current and the Democratic Forum for Labor and Freedoms, in the capital, Tunis.
In an earlier statement given to the media, the Secretary General of the Republican Party, Issam Chebbi, underlined that “these elections are the last stage of the political agenda that Saied tried to impose after his coup against the Constitution and the legitimacy”.
According to him, “Tunisia is not on the electoral path, expressing in this sense its rejection of this path which he described as putschist”.
The SG of the Republican Party also recalled that “75% of Tunisians did not participate in the referendum, the Constitution that Saied imposed by force of fact has therefore fallen politically, morally and electorally”.
Asked by Anadolu Agency about the situation in Tunisia, activist and political analyst Sleheddine Jourchi explained that the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) has chosen to escalate, due to the prevailing social and political instability. in the country, warning against a government “without vision”.
”The trade union center has announced a showdown with the government and the presidency. Moreover, what is happening in different regions across the country is witness to this economic crisis aggravated by political instability. We risk experiencing the worst in the days to come. Massive demonstrations will be organized across the country,” he said.
On the possible changes in the scene resulting from the elections, Jourchi asserted that “90% of the opposition parties seek to politically isolate the head of state. While the Tunisians keep calling for the departure of Kais Saied”.
”I don’t think these elections will succeed in bringing the country out of the abyss. It is no longer a national event. It has become a ”presidential affair”. It is obvious that this period will record a political and popular escalation,” he hammered.
And our interlocutor continued, “In my opinion, these elections are a real fiasco. In addition, with the absence of several political parties and civil society, a good part of Tunisians feels tired of the economic crisis and political conflicts”.
Note also that since the kickoff of the election campaign, he said, a contingent of unknown candidates have taken place. They lack political maturity, have no weight on the political scene and their promises will never be kept”.
”It’s a shoddy Parliament because no party could hold the President of the Republic and the government to account or judge him. It is a unilateral Parliament”, concluded Sleheddine Jourchi.
1,058 applications for the legislative elections, including 122 women and 936 men, were accepted, according to the ISIE. Indeed, 161 deputies will be elected to the Assembly of People’s Representatives. Two weeks later, Tunisians will know the second figure of power after a plenary session under the Dome of Bardo.
This single-member ballot which reduces, among other things, the presence of political parties will be organized in 151 constituencies in Tunisia and in 10 others abroad.
Candidates on the ballot must follow eligibility criteria in order to be elected.
To participate, you must be Tunisian, at least 23 years old, have a clean criminal record, and reside in the same constituency of the vote. The candidate is called upon to present an electoral program and 400 sponsorships, imperatively legalized, according to the ISIE.
On the other hand, members of the government, magistrates, governors, heads of diplomatic and consular missions, first delegates, general secretaries of governorates, imams, delegates, presidents of sports structures, and associations are prohibited from entering. to apply.
