Tunisia’s first election following the ouster of its long-serving President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January last has been put off by three months, reports said on Wednesday. Consequently polls for electing the country’s new Constituent Assembly will now be held on October 23.
Announcing the postponement, Interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi said the Electoral Commission had asked for time-out ostensibly for resolving technical problems.
He said there were several Tunisians who had reservations on delaying elections. Even the interim government had been initially reluctant but it nonetheless wanted polls to take place in a transparent manner.
The Electoral Commission last month had sought more time to create a database of the nearly three million Tunisian voters. Besides, voter ID cards had to be issued to individual voters to prevent bogus voting.
The postponement is likely to be welcomed by the newly-formed political outfits as it gives them more time to woo the electorate while the more established parties have reasons to feel concerned as it could impact the voting patterns.
Full Article: Constituent Assembly Election In Tunisia Put Off.
