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Tunisians Voting In First Free, Multiparty Elections

October 23, 2011

Tunisians have been casting their votes in the country's first-ever free elections.

The elections on October 23 were characterized by a massive turnout.

The chief of the independent election authority, Kamal Jendoubi, said that the participation "surpassed all expectations.".

Jendoubi estimated turnout at around 70 percent.

The vote was being held nine months after the ouster of autocratic leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising.

Tunisian voters are electing a 217-seat assembly, which is expected to draft a new constitution and appoint an interim government.

The Islamist Ennahda party, which was banned under Ben Ali's regime, is widely expected to win the biggest share of votes, but reports say it is not clear if the party will win a majority.

In Jordan, former Arab League secretary-general, currently a candidate for president of Egypt, Amr Moussa said whatever the outcome of the vote in Tunisia the results of the democratic election must be respected.

"We cannot play havoc with our development, with our revolutions," he said. "We chose democracy, and democracy has to be the rule of the game and whatever the outcome would be, we have to accept it and I believe that the outcome would be a balanced one. It will not give majority to one party or one political current."

Interim President Fouad Mebazaa, a former associate of Ben Ali under the previous regime, has pledged to hand over power to whomever is chosen as president by the new constituent assembly, while Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi has encouraged the country's more than 7 million eligible voters to cast their ballots without fear of violence or fraud.

Ben Ali, who ruled Tunisia for 23 years, fled to exile in Saudi Arabia.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/tunisians_voting_in_ first_free_multiparty_elections/24368405.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.