FinPol Digest

  The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) in Tunisia yesterday announced that 21 candidates won in the first round of the legislative elections, and the second round of voting was to open in 133 constituencies, according to preliminary data. ISIE spokesman, Mohamed Tlili Mansri, said: "The preliminary data relating to counting the election results showed that 21 candidates won in the first round." "The second round of these elections will include 133 out of 161 constituencies," Mansri added. He continued, "19 candidates out of the 21 who won in this round, ran the elections in constituencies in which one or two candidates ran." According to the ISIE on Saturday, only 803,638 voters out of 9,163,502 participated in the elections; making up only 8.8 percent of the electorate. The figure was revised to 11.2 percent yesterday.

  Tunisia 's main election body is continuing to make preparations for the legislative election scheduled for 17 December, despite having only five out of seven members in place. President Kais Saied called for the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) to fill the vacancies following the dismissal of Sami Ben Salama on 25 August 25, who was banned from entering the authority's central headquarters after the constitutional referendum on 25 July. An earlier vacancy occurred with the June resignation of ISIE member Judge Al-Habib Al-Rubai. The judge resigned his position in solidarity with 57 of his fellow judges dismissed by Saied, although he has since returned to his legal career. "The ISIE has no difficulty in carrying on with the election preparations as it has a valid quorum of members," explained official spokesperson Muhammad Al-Tilili Al-Mansri. He told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the ISIE has "no information" about Saied's intention to fill ...