Tunisians vote in second round of poll for defanged parliament

By AFP 

Polling began in the second round of elections for Tunisia's toothless parliament on Sunday, but as the divided nation grapples with economic woes, all eyes will be on turnout.

A total of 262 candidates are competing for 131 seats in the new legislature, a body largely stripped of its powers following President Kais Saied's dramatic power grab in the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings.

On July 25, 2021, Saied sacked the government and froze parliament before dissolving it and pushing through a new constitution granting him almost unlimited powers, sweeping away the system that had emerged from the 2011 revolt.

The latest polls, whose first round in December saw just 11.2 percent of registered voters take part, are seen as the final pillar of Saied's transformation of politics.

The new legislature will have almost no power to hold the president to account.

"I don't plan to vote," said Ridha, a carpenter in the capital Tunis who declined to provide his surname. "I can't trust anyone anymore."

Analysts predict few of Tunisia's 7.8 million eligible voters will cast their ballots in the second round, as major parties including Saied's arch-rivals, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha, call for a boycott.

Youssef Cherif, director of Columbia Global Centers in Tunis, said "this parliament will have very little legitimacy, and the president, who is all-powerful thanks to the 2022 constitution, will be able to control it as he sees fit."

- 'Dramatic' situation -

Cherif also noted Tunisians' "lack of interest" in politics.

With inflation at over 10 percent and repeated shortages of basic goods from butter to cooking oil, Tunisia's 12 million people have been focused on more immediate issues.

Ratings agency Moody's on Saturday downgraded Tunisia to Caa2, citing "the absence of comprehensive financing to date to meet the government's large funding needs".

Lawyer and political expert Hamadi Redissi called the economic situation "dramatic".

"Along with soaring prices, we're seeing shortages and the president is pathetically blaming 'speculators, traitors and saboteurs'," he said.

More than 32,000 Tunisians are estimated to have made clandestine bids to reach Europe over the past year, as poverty and unemployment rise.

The election takes place in the shadow of Tunisia's drawn-out negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout worth nearly $2 billion.

Cherif said the talks were stumbling over the United States' concerns for the future of Tunisian democracy and Saied's apparent reluctance to "accept the IMF's diktats" on politically sensitive issues, including subsidy reform.

Redissi meanwhile said there was a "blatant discrepancy" between Saied's rhetoric against the IMF and the programme his government proposed to the lender "on the sly".

"We have a president who opposes his own government," he said.