Tunisia prepares to vote

[Valmy]

Doesn't say that the 3.1 million didn't vote. Only that figures were unavailable.

They said they did not register to vote.  How can you vote if you did not register?

[Sheilbh]

Doesn't say that the 3.1 million didn't vote. Only that figures were unavailable.

They said they did not register to vote.  How can you vote if you did not register?

The 4.1 million is pre-registered voters, of whom 90% voted.  You could register on the day and vote, there's no figures available on how many of the remaining 3.1 million did that.  But I believe the electoral commission's said that more votes were cast than they expected which is why it's taking longer than expected to count.

I also read that Tunisia has a rather odd election rule.  Policemen, firemen and soldiers can't vote

[Valmy]

I also read that Tunisia has a rather odd election rule.  Policemen, firemen and soldiers can't vote

Probably a sensible move in their specific political context.  Perhaps they dominated elections in the old regime or something.

[Valmy]

The 4.1 million is pre-registered voters, of whom 90% voted.  You could register on the day and vote, there's no figures available on how many of the remaining 3.1 million did that.  But I believe the electoral commission's said that more votes were cast than they expected which is why it's taking longer than expected to count.

Ah gotcha.  Wow I am glad they cannot do that here.  Voting would take forever.

[dps]

The 4.1 million is pre-registered voters, of whom 90% voted.  You could register on the day and vote, there's no figures available on how many of the remaining 3.1 million did that.  But I believe the electoral commission's said that more votes were cast than they expected which is why it's taking longer than expected to count.

Ah gotcha.  Wow I am glad they cannot do that here.  Voting would take forever.

Are you not aware that the Democratic party has endorsed the concept of voting day registration for some time now, and that it has been adopted in some jurisdictions?

[Sheilbh]

Ah gotcha.  Wow I am glad they cannot do that here.  Voting would take forever.

Seems like a good idea in the case of the first real election.  Also it'll make the electoral commission's job a lot easier in future elections if they're maintaining an electoral roll with, say, 90% of voters registered.

[Jacob]

This video is from the run-up to the election. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxWvgASA_Q4

[HisMajestyBOB]

I envy them, not being forced to choose between the Republicans and Democrats.
I want to vote for An-Nahda in 2012, just for a change in pace.

[Sheilbh]

I envy them, not being forced to choose between the Republicans and Democrats.
I want to vote for An-Nahda in 2012, just for a change in pace.

I like the idea of voting Modern Democratic Pole.  But I worry it'd just be Marty with a rosette

[Sheilbh]

I think the results are being announced

So far Nahda's leading every province announced and they've won 33 of the 74 seats so far.  After that is the CPR who've won 12 and the People's Petition for Freedom Justice and Development.  Nahda's in talks with the centre-left parties about forming a coalition government.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Doesn't say that the 3.1 million didn't vote. Only that figures were unavailable.

They said they did not register to vote.  How can you vote if you did not register?

go to pollbooth, vote.

[Valmy]

go to pollbooth, vote.

Oh for Godsake.

[jimmy olsen]

About as good a result as we could have expected I think.

[Sheilbh]

Counting's over:

Tunisia's Ennahdha declared election winner
Officials announce that moderate Islamist party won more than two-fifths of seats in Constituent Assembly.
Last Modified: 28 Oct 2011 01:12

Tunisia's Islamist Ennahdha party has won historic democratic elections with 41.47 per cent of votes cast, nine months after the toppling of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

The party obtained 90 seats in a new 217-member assembly that will rewrite the constitution, appoint a president and form a caretaker government, elections chief Kamel Jendoubi told journalists in Tunis on Thursday.

"We will continue this revolution to realise its aims of a Tunisia that is free, independent, developing and prosperous in which the rights of God, the Prophet, women, men, the religious and the non-religious are assured because Tunisia is for everyone," Ghannouchi told a crowd of supporters.

The leftist Congress for the Republic (CPR) was in second place with 13.82 per cent, representing 30 seats, and Ettakatol third with 9.68 per cent or 21 seats, he said.

However, protests linked to the party placing fourth in Sunday's voting erupted in and around Sidi Bouzid, the town where the uprising that drove this North African nation's strongman from power.

The leader of Areedha Chaabiya, or Popular List party, Hachmi Hamdi, announced on national television that he was withdrawing the 19 seats his party won after the electoral commission invalidated six of its lists.

More than 2,000 young people marched on the Sidi Bouzid headquarters of Ennahdha, the election victor, and pelted security forces with stones after they learned of the list nullification.

"The reason why they're doing this is that [election officials] announced they were cancelling the seats the popular Hamdi had won," Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reported from Tunis.

Our correspondent said the election official body claimed to have done so due to violations of the "electoral code".

Forming an assembly

Ennahdha, banned under Ben Ali's regime and registered as a political party in March, had pre-empted its victory by announcing on Wednesday it had started coalition negotiations and intended to form a new government within a month.

The new assembly will decide on the country's system of government and how to guarantee basic liberties, including women's rights, which many in Tunisia fear Ennahdha would seek to diminish despite its assurances to the contrary.

Analysts say that Ennahdha, even in a majority alliance, would be unable to "dictate" its programme to the assembly, having no choice but to appease its alliance partners, a moderate-minded society and the international community on whose investment and tourism the country heavily relies.

Leftist parties may yet seek to form a majority bloc against Ennahdha.

The party said earlier Thursday it had met bankers and stock brokers to "re-assure them" of its intentions.

'Tunisia will move forward'

Beji Caid Sebsi, the current prime minister, said in comments published on Thursday that he had no reason to doubt
Ennahdha's commitment to the secular state and democracy.

"I can't judge intentions, that's up to God. I can only judge by what's public and so far it's positive. At the end of
the day, no one can come and change things completely," he told Egypt's al-Ahram daily.

"I think [Ennahdha] will rule intelligently and deal with reality. It is not necessarily a dark force. Tunisia will continue to move forward and not go against history."

Sebsi, a secularist technocrat who served in Ben Ali cabinets, has occupied the post of caretaker prime minister
since March.

Defying predictions that the election would lead to violence and clashes between police and a hardline Salafi minority,
Sunday's poll was peaceful and was applauded by Western monitors.

But in a sign of possible complications, supporters of Hamdi, a Tunisian television mogul, staged a protest on Thursday against Ennahdha's refusal to talk to his party.

Results posted in many districts had shown Hamdi's "Popular List" doing surprisingly well. Hamdi owns London-based TV station al-Mustaqilla, which had followed a pro-Ben Ali line in recent years.

Ennahdha had said earlier this week it would not include Hamdi in any coalition talks, suspecting his list of having found support among supporters of Ben Ali's now banned RCD party.

From what I've read elsewhere Ennahdha (I'll stick with this spelling) want their Secretary General (not Ghannouchi) to be Prime Minister and have apparently nominated one of their female MPs (who doesn't wear a headscarf) as President of the Assembly - which I think'll be like a speaker.  One of the leftist parties is expected to get the Presidency.