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US to Tunisia: Engage Democratic Efforts


FILE - A Tunisian votes in the second round of the legislative elections in Tunis, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023.
FILE - A Tunisian votes in the second round of the legislative elections in Tunis, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023.

The United States Wednesday called on Tunisia to show greater democratic inclusion after just 11.4% of voters took part in a second round of elections for a toothless legislature.

"The low voter turnout reflects the dire need for the government to engage in a more inclusive path going forward," U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

But he said that elections represented "another step in the important and essential process of restoring the country's democratic checks and balances."

The two-round vote that ended Sunday saw the lowest participation since the 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.

Only 895,002 out of over 7.8 million registered voters went to the polls on Sunday, the ISIE electoral board's chairman Farouk Bouasker told journalists in Tunis Monday, raising the figure by a tenth of a percent from the 11.3% turnout initially reported.

Bouasker said 67.6% of those who cast ballots were men.

Tunisian President Kais Saied in July 2021 froze the legislature, sacked the government and seized wide-ranging powers, in moves that were initially welcomed by some Tunisians tired of political parties often seen as corrupt and ineffective.

On Tuesday, Saied swore in new education and agriculture ministers, politically sensitive posts in the country.

Saied has defended his record and described the low turnout as a sign of discontent with parliament.

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