2022–23 Tunisian parliamentary election

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2022–23 Tunisian parliamentary election
Tunisia
← 2019 17 December 2022 (first round)
29 January 2023 (second round)		 Next →
All 161 seats in the Assembly of the Representatives of the People
81 seats needed for a majority
Turnout11.22% (first round, Decrease30.48pp)
11.40% (second round)
Party Leader Seats +/–
July 25 Movement Fathi Hakimi 80 New
People's Movement Zouhair Maghzaoui 1 −14
Independents – 10 −2
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Najla Bouden
Independent		 Najla Bouden
Independent
Politics of Tunisia
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  • Tunisian Constitution of 2022
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Parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on 17 December 2022 to elect the third Assembly of the Representatives of the People.[1] Run-offs were held on 29 January 2023 in the vast majority of constituencies after only 21 candidates were elected in the first round.

Voter turnout in the first round was just 11.22 percent,[2] as the election was boycotted by most opposition parties.[3]

Background

On 25 July 2021, Republic Day, after months of political crisis between the President of the Republic and Assembly of the Representatives of the People, thousands of demonstrators rallied to call for the dissolution of the Assembly and regime change.[4] These rallies are taking place as the health crisis around the COVID-19 pandemic escalates. On the same day, President Kais Saied dismissed the government of Hichem Mechichi and suspended the activities of the Assembly, using the emergency powers provided for in article 80 of the Constitution of Tunisia.[5] The country's largest parliamentary party, Ennahda, and its leader, Assembly Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, condemned the president's actions, calling them a coup d'état.[6] Some political analysts and lawyers have also called the events a coup d'état.[7]

On 22 September, Saied confirmed by decree the extension of the validity of the decisions, as well as the dissolution of the Provisional Body Responsible for Checking the Constitutionality of Bills [fr], and decided to suspend the payment of wages and benefits provided to the chairman of the Assembly of Representatives of the People and its members,[8] and granted himself the right to rule by decree, de facto restoring legislative power.[9][8] His decision was criticized by most of the parties represented in Parliament.[10]

On 29 September, the President instructed Najla Bouden to form a new government. Thus, she became the first female head of government in the country and throughout the Arab world.[11]

From 15 January to 20 March 2022, an electronic consultation took place on the reforms to be proposed in anticipation of the referendum. During the ballot, which was the subject of a very low turnout, the options of a transition to a presidential system and to a single-member ballot for the legislative elections prevailed.[12][13][14]

On 30 March 2022, 120 deputies, under the chairmanship of the second vice-president of the Assembly Tarek Fetiti,[15] met in a virtual session to vote for the end of the exceptional measures in force since July 25. The same day, Kaïs Saïed dissolved Parliament, which the Constitution forbids during the period when the state of exception is applied, and threatens the deputies with legal proceedings.[16][17]

On 6 April, Kais Saied announced the holding of the parliamentary ballot according to a two-round uninominal majority ballot.[18] On 5 September, he announced that the electoral law will be drafted taking into consideration the recommendations of the supporters of the July 25 process, and that the rest of the political class will be excluded from this process.[19] The electoral law will have to be published no later than September 16 to meet the deadlines.

On 25 July 2022, the new Constitution was adopted by constitutional referendum with 94.6% of the votes and a 30.5% turnout.[20] A new electoral law was then published by decree on 15 September.[21]

Electoral system

The 217 members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People were previously elected by closed list proportional representation in 33 multi-member constituencies (27 in Tunisia and 6 representing Tunisian expatriates) with seats allocated using the largest remainder method and a mandated zipper system: alternating female and male candidates on the list, and a male and female candidate under the age of 35 in the top four in constituencies with four or more seats.[22] However, on 16 September 2022, President Kais Saied introduced a new electoral system and reduced the number of parliamentarians.

In this election, the reduced 161 members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People (now the lower house of a bicameral legislature) will be elected via the two-round system in single-member constituencies. Additionally, publicly funded elections were abolished, meaning private support and self-financing must be used, and the law introduced recall referendums, which can be triggered if signatures equal to 10% voters who voted for them submit a request in favor of one to the parliament.[23] Party affiliation of the candidates will no longer appear on ballots.

Campaign

Procedure

The ISIE publishes the electoral calendar on 23 September 2022.[24] In accordance with the decree of 15 September calling on voters to elect the members of the Assembly of People's Representatives,[25] the date of the legislative elections is set for 17 December 2022 on national territory, and from 15 to 17 December abroad.[24]

Automatic registration of voters who turn 18 before 16 December is carried out from 21 September.[26] The electoral period begins on September 25 at midnight, when it is forbidden to broadcast and publish the results of opinion polls related to the elections.[27] The updating of those registered in the electoral register as well as the change of polling stations take place from 26 September to 13 October.[28] The final list of voters is published on 14 October , after the receipt of appeals against the preliminary lists on 29 and 30 September, examined on 1 and 2 October.

The submission of applications is open from 17 October to 24 October. They are studied by the ISIE on 13 October to publish the next day, 1 November, the list of candidates on the premises of the ISIE. The final list of candidates is announced on 21 November. The election campaign begins on 25 November. It ends on 13 December abroad and 15 December on national territory, respective dates after which the electoral silence begins.

The preliminary results are announced on 20 December, and the final results on 19 January 2023.[24]

Boycott

The National Salvation Front, chaired by Ahmed Najib Chebbi, announced that it was boycotting the legislative election, comparing it to the elections that were held under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.[29] This coalition, which had also boycotted the constitutional referendum,[30] is made up of several political parties including Ennahda, Al Amal, Dignity Coalition, Heart of Tunisia, Movement Party and the Citizens against the Coup d'Etat movement, as well as members of civil society, created to oppose the coup of 25 July 2021.[31]

The Coordination of Social Democratic Parties, made up of Ettakatol, Republican Party, Democratic Current, Workers' Party and the Democratic Modernist Pole also announced its boycott of the election.[32] The Soumoud coalition also calls on citizens to boycott the election.[33]

After calling on the democratic and progressive forces to come together to prepare common candidacies for the legislative elections, and proposing a roadmap in the event of victory,[34] the Free Destourian Party (PDL) finally announced on 7 September that it would not take part in the legislative elections, considering them a "state crime", and considering the unilateral revision of the election law as an "illegal".[35] It also compares the legislative elections to an appointment of members of a “council similar to that of the Shura, as in Islamist countries” and condemns the non-respect of international standards in the process. The party also announces a nationwide day of anger and protest on 17 September.[36] The boycott of the elections by the PDL risks weakening the legitimacy of the results given that the party was the leader in opinion polls.[37]

Afek Tounes,[38] Machrouu Tounes,[39] the Social Democratic Path[40] and the National Alliance party of Néji Jalloul are also boycotting the legislative election.[41]

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists denounces the situation of the confiscated media and threatens to boycott the election in the event of a lack of dialogue with the government.[42]

Declared candidacies

Party participation

On 29 September 2022, ISIE spokesperson Mohamed Tlili Mansri announced that political parties are banned from campaigning for the legislative elections and that candidates must campaign individually.[59] He adds that it is forbidden for candidates to indicate in their application file the party they represent.[60] Following the denunciation of these prohibitions by politicians,[61][62] the Head of State specifies that political parties can participate in the electoral campaign but only by supporting them in a personal capacity.[63] The ISIE spokesperson also clarified that parties can support candidates without taking part in the campaign, and that their candidates can use the official logo and program of the political party during their campaign.[64] However, the parties having decided to boycott the elections cannot be concerned by the legislative elections.[65]

The ISIE spokesperson announces on 3 October that political parties and associations cannot finance legislative candidates since they are not considered as natural persons who can participate in private financing.[66]

On 26 October the secretary general of the People's Movement Zouhair Maghzaoui announced that his party will present candidates in at least 120 constituencies, including deputies from the last legislature.[67][68]

Illegal sponsorship case

On 6 October 2022, the ISIE announced that some potential legislative candidates had attempted to illegally obtain sponsorships by exploiting public resources, abusing their power or in return for compensation. An investigation is therefore opened and the suspected persons are arrested.[69][70]

According to the President of the Republic, among the offenses are the refusal of the legalization of signatures of sponsorships by municipal councils, the facilitation of the legalization of signatures for certain candidates, or the fact of "terrorizing citizens" to obtain their sponsorships.

Faced with this affair, Kais Saied compares sponsorships to “merchandise that is sold and bought” and evokes, on 8 October 2022, the need to amend the electoral law a second time.[71] The president of the ISIE reacts to this statement by saying that it would be preferable not to amend the law when the electoral period has begun and sponsorships have already been collected. It specifies that it will not be possible to renounce the sponsorships that the candidates received before a potential second amendment.[72] He also insists on the importance of examining the situation before making technical adjustments to the law and of consulting the ISIE at this stage of the campaign.

On 10 October, the vice-president of the ISIE Maher Jedidi confirms that the presidency of the Republic is preparing a new amendment to the electoral law and that the independent body will have an advisory role when it is ready. He insists all the same on the importance of keeping the candidacy conditions as they are and that, if certain technical points were changed, the ISIE will have its say, suggesting a mistrust of such an action on the part of the president by the ISIE.[73]

Opinion polls

  Ennahda
  Heart of Tunisia
  Free Destourian Party
  Democratic Current
  Dignity Coalition
  People's Movement
  Tahya Tounes
  Afek Tounes
  Nidaa Tounes
  Popular Front
  Party of Kais Saied
  Party of Safi Saïd