Most Tunisians boycotted Saturday’s parliamentary elections, which had an 8.8% voter turnout in a country with over 9 million eligible voters.
Most of the country’s political parties had announced that they would boycott the election, called at the direction of the Tunisian President Kais Saied. In July 2021, Saied declared a state of emergency, dismissed the government, suspended parliament, and ruled by decree until a new constitution was approved five months ago, that concentrated power in the hands of the president, meaning that the parliament will have far fewer powers than in the past. Most of the 1,058 candidates for the 161-member parliament, are independent and do not belong to any of the country’s political parties.
Tunisia transformed into a country with democratic rule as a result of the 2011 Arab Spring, until Saied launched what is considered a “coup” by his opponents.