Tunisia’s Chastened Parties Seek Rebound in Parliamentary Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Tunisians went to the polls Sunday with the major political parties looking to rebound from their defeat by outsiders in a recent presidential vote by securing a strong position in the powerful parliament.

Choosing the 217-member assembly has traditionally been the principal election in the North African country since its 2011 uprising ushered in democracy. But the shock outcome of the Sept. 15 vote has given added impetus, as mainstream parties try to woo a public fed up with the status quo and win some leverage with whichever presidential candidate finally triumphs.

Polling stations are open between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with preliminary results due by Oct. 10. Turnout was 13% by 2 p.m., according to Farouk Bouasker, a member of the election commission.

Tunisia, which kicked off the Arab Spring with mass protests that ousted then-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, is the only country to have emerged from the maelstrom with a viable democracy. Yet many of the 11.5 million population accuse the government of failing to improve their lives as political bickering and sporadic militant attacks have sapped the economy.

That discontent fueled a rejection of the establishment in the first round of the presidential vote, which was held prior to the parliamentary election due to the July death of President Beji Caid Essebsi.

Backing Outsiders

Candidates like the prime minister and defense minister fell by the wayside, as Tunisians backed Kais Saied, a low-profile law professor, and Nabil Karoui, a media mogul and self-proclaimed champion of the poor who’s jailed on corruption charges he denies.

The two will compete in an Oct. 13 runoff that has largely eclipsed the parliamentary vote, despite Tunisia’s presidency being a mainly ceremonial role with a say in defense and foreign policy.

Tunisians are picking lawmakers for 33 electoral constituencies, with more than 15,000 candidates in the running. The country uses a closed-list system, where voters cast their ballot for a list formed by parties or coalitions of contenders, not any individual.

An “angry popular mood” will probably mean further success by insurgent candidates, although there’s “an opportunity for traditional parties to remedy their situation,” said Boulbaba Salem, a political analyst.

Splits in Tunisia’s main centrist option, Nidaa Tounes, have opened the door for groups like Live Tunisian, a well-financed party of populist slogans founded by a Tunisian-French philanthropist. But the vote may shape up as a contest between Karoui’s recently formed Heart of Tunisia party and Ennahda, Tunisia’s major religious party. It says it has quit preaching and is now simply politically conservative.

Premiership Chance

Ennahda is endorsing Saied, an independent, for the presidential runoff. Leader Rashid Ghannouchi is running for parliament in the country’s largest constituency, giving him a chance at the premiership or speaker of the assembly.

Meanwhile, Karoui’s party has managed to capitalize on the TV-channel-owner’s continued detention to claim that it proves corruption in the political system, said Sarah Yerkes, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “His status as a de facto political prisoner has really only strengthened the party.”

The 56-year-old was detained in August in a case of alleged money laundering and tax evasion brought by a transparency watchdog three years ago. Courts have turned down four appeals for his release.

“Ennahda is our real rival,” said Iyadh Elloumi, one of Heart of Tunisia’s senior officials, accusing Islamists of causing “eight years of failure and crisis.”

That message has found a receptive audience among some of the electorate.

Heart of Tunisia “is the least-bad party,” said Dalila Telmsani, a 61-year-old anesthesiologist casting a ballot at a downtown Tunis polling station who shrugged off the allegations of corruption. “What I’m concerned with is the removal of parties that have destroyed Tunisia.”

Of the about 1,570 electoral lists, 722 are of independent candidates and 687 for parties, making another rejection of Tunisia’s establishment a possibility. Ghannouchi has warned that independent lists could divide the vote.

“We are sick and tired of the false promises of Ennahda, Nidaa and other parties,” said Ali Ben Mahmoud, a 47-year-old at a market in Jebel Jelloud, south-central Tunis, before polling started. “We should punish them.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jihen Laghmari in Tunisia at jlaghmari@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Paul Abelsky

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.