Tunisia Elects a New Government

The Assembly of the Representatives of the People, Tunisia’s legislative branch, meets in Tunis. (Wikimedia Commons)

Tunisian parliamentary elections occurred on October 6. While preliminary results indicate that the moderate Islamist Ennahda party won a plurality of seats, it remains unclear which parties will unite to form a governing coalition. This parliamentary election is only Tunisia’s second after mass protests ousted former Tunisian President Ben Ali in 2011 during the Arab Spring.

While the results of the parliamentary election will not become official until November 13, the Ennahda party won 52 out of 217 seats, while the new Qalb Tounes (meaning Heart of Tunisia) party came in second with 38 seats. Other parties, including the liberal Attayar party and the populist Karama party, also took more than 20 seats. Many well-established secular parties, including the previously powerful Nidaa Tounes and Tahya Tounes parties, did not receive more than 5% of the vote.

Since Tunisia’s democratization in 2011, different parties have coalesced to form a ruling majority of at least 109 seats. There are more than 200 registered political parties in Tunisia, but many candidates run independently and only a handful of parties hold more than a few seats. 

Under Tunisian law, if no majority coalition forms in the next two months, the president can ask another party to attempt to form one. If this effort fails, Tunisia will hold another round of parliamentary elections next year. Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes formerly joined forces to form a majority. However, as Ennahda and Qalb Tounes both claimed during their campaigns that they are unwilling to unite, no party has a clear path to a majority. 

Meanwhile, no presidential candidate won a majority of votes in the September 15 election, so Tunisia also held presidential run-offs between Nabil Karoui of the Qalb Tounes party and independent Kais Saied on October 13. The prime minister and the governing coalition in parliament control domestic policy in Tunisia, whereas the president sets foreign and defense policy. Typically, Tunisia’s presidential election should be held in November; however, the death of secularist Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi in July shifted the election date to September. Early exit polls indicated a landslide victory for Saied.

Many Tunisians see the election of a new government as a chance to boost Tunisia’s economy, which has struggled since the 2011 uprising. Tunisia faces 15.4% unemployment and similar poverty levels. Ikbal Elloumi, the head of the opinion poll firm Elka, stated that “The message is clear; they [Tunisians] are looking for new politicians.”