More than 260 personalities from the political scene and civil society have called for a boycott of the local elections scheduled for December 24, believing that “it is one more step towards the demolition of the institutions of the Democratic Republic.”
In a collective petition published Tuesday, December 12, 2023, by the Soumoud Coalition, the signatories stressed that this electoral meeting is taking place in a context marked by an unprecedented political crisis and repression against civil society.
“The power in place is taking legal action against its opponents to prohibit political pluralism and put an end to the peaceful alternation of power,” we read in the petition.
They urged democratic and progressive forces to create a united front against what they describe as “the authoritarian choice adopted by the ruling power” and to save the country from a “deep” crisis, the petition said.
The spokesperson for the Independent High Authority for Elections (Isie), Mohamed Tlili Mansri, stressed that this boycott “will not affect the process of local elections”. He knows, however, that during the 2022 legislative elections, less than 12% of registered voters took to the polls, with Tunisians expressing total disaffection with politics.
