Tunisia’s powerful UGTT union says election runoffs could cause chaos
-
Salma Hossein
- . December 24, 2022
- . Update: December 24, 2022 3:39 pm
The powerful UGTT union in Tunisia has said that the second round of elections would cause chaos in the country. It also said that the parliamentary elections should be postponed.
The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) said that a low number of voters participated in parliamentary voting last week. The union further said that the voting would have no legitimacy.
Last week, around 11.2 per cent of the country’s eligible voters participated in the election. Subsequently, opposition leaders said that President Kais Saied should step down from his post.
Noureddine Taboubi, the head of UGTT, reportedly said, “I was expecting that after low turnout, the president would postpone the election.” He further added that the second round of elections must be avoided in order to avoid political chaos in the country.
Read | Saudi announces policy for intellectual property as part of attempts to diversify its economy
Saied said that the turnout of voters should not be counted in one session. Saied also rejected the opposition’s criticism. He reportedly said that turnout must only be judged after the second round of voting. Saied said that another round of voting can take place in February. However, no date has been set yet.
According to the electoral commission, runoffs would be held in most regions in the country after only 21 candidates secured victory in the first round of parliamentary elections that was held this week. The first round of parliamentary elections took place on Saturday.
Saied had suspended an opposition-dominated parliament last year, which led to political chaos in the country. Opposition leaders slammed Saied. The election process was also changed and candidates were not allowed to receive any funding from any political parties.
The UGTT backed Saied’s moves to suspend parliament in 2021. However, the union withdrew support after the president wrote a new constitution. Under the new constitution drafted by Saied, the new parliament would have limited powers.
