Tunisia Sees Lowest-Ever Election Turnout at 8.8%

Tunisia has seen its lowest turnout at an election, with just 8.8% participating in a vote amidst political turmoil following President Kais Saied’s suspension of parliament and subsequent redrawing of the country’s political map.

Officials at the country’s Instance Supérieure Indépendante pour les Élections (ISIE) reported the record-low participation percentage for the legislative election, prompting the major opposition alliance to demand that Saied “leave immediately.”

Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, president of Tunisia’s “Salvation Front” alliance, which boycotted the ballot and has accused Saied of attempting a coup against Tunisia’s democracy, stated that the president has “lost all legal legitimacy” Chebbi said Agence France-Presse that an abstention percentage of more than 91 percent indicates that “shows that very, very few Tunisians support Kais Saied’s approach”

Since suspending parliament in July of last year, Saied has established a new constitution, substantially diminishing the significance of the country’s political parties, whom he has deemed to be enemies of the people. He reserved special ire for the Ennahda movement, a component of the opposition alliance, which has dominated the political scene since 2011 when the country led the Arab Spring wave of protests against tyranny.