Tunisia’s electoral commission on Monday proposed holding long-planned parliamentary elections in October and a presidential poll in November after the political parties agreed a deal following months of negotiations. “The draft timetable that we have presented (proposes) legislative elections on 26 October, the first round of the presidential election on 23 November, and the second round on 28 December,” the commission’s chairman, Chafik Sarsar, told journalists. He was speaking after meeting National Assembly speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar.
Sarsar hailed the breakthrough in negotiations between the political parties, which allowed for an agreement on Friday between the Islamist Ennahda party and its opponents on holding the parliamentary election first. But he called for the election dates to be fixed “as quickly as possible”.
The exact timetable of the two polls must be adopted by next Monday, when registration for the electoral lists is due to begin.
Friday’s accord followed lengthy delays, with Ennahda, which dominates the National Assembly, calling for the legislative poll first, and its opponents mostly seeking the opposite.
Full Article: Tunisia election dates proposed | Middle East Eye.