Tunisia’s main opposition coalition, National Salvation Front has asked President Kais Saied to resign after less than 9% of eligible voters participated in parliamentary elections across the country.
Leader of the National Salvation Front, Nejib Chebbi said Saturday’s poll was a “fiasco”, calling for mass protests to demand snap presidential elections.
The vote was boycotted by most opposition parties, condemning Saied for reversing the democratic gains made since the 2011 uprising, a charge he rejects.
The Democratic Current party, one of 11 political parties which boycotted the elections said President Saeid should step down. Party leader Ghazi Chaouachi said the poor voter turnout is a clear indication from the people to President Saied that “he no longer has a place in Tunisia and must accept defeat and step aside”.
Saied sacked the prime minister and suspended parliament in July 2021. A year later, he pushed for a constitution enshrining his one-man rule after a vote that was also boycotted by the main opposition parties.
The new constitution replaced one drafted soon after the Arab Spring in 2011, which saw Tunisia overthrow late dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. It gave the head of state full executive control and supreme command of the army.
Saied, 64, a former law professor has been in power since 2019. He says such powers were necessary to break a cycle of political paralysis and economic logjam.
President Saied’s followers agree with him, saying the North African nation needs a leader with firmness to tackle graft and other major issues that hinder the country’s growth.
Electoral officials said late on Saturday that 8.8% of the nearly nine-million-strong electorate had voted in the parliamentary elections.
Chebbi then said: “What happened today is an earthquake, from this moment, we consider Saied an illegitimate president and demand he resign after this fiasco,”
The National Salvation Front, a coalition of several political parties, also called for mass rallies and sit-ins. President Saied has not addressed the public in this regard.
Tunisia’s uprising 11 years ago is often held as the sole success of the Arab Spring revolts across the region, it has however not led to socio-economic or political stability.
