TUNISIANS WILL vote tomorrow in the first democratic elections since the revolution that overthrew their dictator and sparked popular revolts across the region.
Hundreds of international observers will be on hand to verify that the vote is free and fair, while the process will be watched across a region where two states, Egypt and Libya, have begun a similar transition after revolutions.
Some 11,000 candidates representing 120 parties are contesting the election, ranging from communists and secular liberals to Islamists and remnants of the RCD party of deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, whose 23-year rule ended in January when he flew into exile in Saudi Arabia. Voters will elect 217 members of a constituent assembly that will write a new constitution and appoint a caretaker government.
The most closely-watched battle is between Islamist parties, who have returned to the fray after being suppressed by the Ben Ali regime, and liberals who fear they would roll back Tunisia’s traditionally strong women’s rights.
Opinion polls suggest Ennahda, the leading Islamist party, could emerge as the largest in the country, with up to 20 per cent of the vote. Seeking to reassure the public about its intentions on the eve of the ballot, party leader Rachid Ghannouchi described Ennahda as a moderate, tolerant voice motivated “not by a spirit of revenge, but reconciliation”. Mr Ghannouchi recently returned to Tunisia after 22 years in exile, while many of the party’s candidates have spent decades in prison. He insisted Ennahda was not to be feared and accused opponents who claimed otherwise of fear-mongering.
“We are keen for national reconciliation to end the pain of the past,” he said. “How could a party that is so popular be the enemy of Tunisia?” Ennahda has indicated a desire to form a government of national unity, but some secularist groups have expressed unease about sharing power with it.
“I’m against the Islamists. That’s mainly why I’m voting,” said Fatma Fayache, a middle-aged woman on Avenue Bourguiba, the capital’s main boulevard. “I’ve no confidence in them. Our grandmothers, our mothers – none of them had to put up with all that. We can’t go backwards. They’ll try to bring back the veil and everything.”
Apathy is a big concern for the election’s organisers, who hope for a strong turnout to give legitimacy to the new assembly. Just half of the eligible population has so far registered to vote, prompting a change in the rules which will allow for registrations as late as election day.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi encouraged Tunisians to vote without fear of rigging or violence.
Tensions have risen in the past two weeks ahead of the elections.
Hundreds of hardline Islamists held a protest which turned violent against a decision by a private TV station to broadcast Persepolis, an award-winning animated film they said insulted Islam by showing an image of the Prophet Mohammed. A counter-demonstration by secularists in Tunis last Sunday attracted some 3,000.