Tunisians vote to elect new parliament

By Adel al-Thabti

TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) – Tunisian voters went to the polling stations on Saturday to elect a new parliament amid a political crisis in the North African country.

The early polls are the latest step in a series of exceptional measures taken by Tunisian President Kais Saied, which started in July 2021 with ousting the government, dissolving parliament, and drafting a new constitution.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time (0700GMT) and will close at 6 p.m. (1700GMT).

Around 9.2 million voters are eligible to cast ballots.

A total of 1,058 candidates, including 120 women, are running for seats in the 161-member parliament.

Saturday’s parliamentary elections are being boycotted by several main political parties, including the Ennahda movement, Heart of Tunisia Party, and Movement Party.

While Saied insists that his measures were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report