Tunisia’s parties seek rebound in parliamentary vote

Bloomberg

Tunisians went to the polls on Sunday with the major political parties looking to rebound from their defeat by outsiders in last month’s 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 September 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.
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.
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 fuelled 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, an austere 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 October 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 electoral system, where voters cast their ballot for a list formed by parties or coalitions of contenders, not any individual. Preliminary results are due by October 10.
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.
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 capitalise 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 a case of alleged money laundering and tax evasion brought by a transparency watchdog three years ago.