Tunisia: electoral nominations close

The Tunisian electoral commission said on Thursday evening that over 1500 electoral lists had registered for the upcoming National Constituent Assembly election. The election is less than two months away. Once elected, the National Constituent Assembly will reform Tunisia's constitution to return legitimacy to its national organisations. Arab Shuwaika, a Professor of Communications at the University of Tunisia and a member of Tunisia's Independent High Electoral Reform, told Arabs Today that: “the door to run for election closed on Wednesday and we have registered more than 1500 electoral lists within Tunisia and a  further 100 from abroad. However, not all lists will be approved, and the final nominations will be published on 12th September.” Candidates are required to satisfy certain conditions, including acknowledging gender equality and being age 23 and above. In addition, those who played a leading role in the previous regime of deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, are not eligible for election. Bou Baker Al Thabet, the Secretary General of the electoral forum said that: “about 50 percent of the total number of lists of candidates who are running up for election came from late entries on Wednesday night, which has prevented us from having accurate final on the number of final lists handed in." Candidates from more than 105 parties will compete for the 213 seats in the Assembly. The majority of parties were registered in the aftermath of the 13th of January revolution, which ended the Ben Ali's rule. Separate electoral lists were headed by political figures such as Sheikh Abdel Fattah Mourou and political analyst Salaheddine Al Joushari. Tunisia is split into 27 electorates inside Tunisia and six abroad. The number of candidates in each electorate varies, although the average is 10. The electoral committee is working to administer the first free and fair elections in Tunisia’s history. On the 5th of September, the committee and transitional government established a plan to protect the Commission’s headquarters and voting stations to prevent vote tampering. Recently, the Commission requested more electoral equipment and has started to plan for the printing of ballot papers. It has also started the difficult process of recruiting staff for polling stations. The election is scheduled for the 23rd of October.