Huge turnout recorded in Tunis' landmark election
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Xinhua, October 24, 2011
Tunisia's constituent assembly election, the first in the country since turmoil hit the country early this year, is going on smoothly Sunday, with no violence reported so far, and a huge turnout has been reported by the electoral body.
"The massive participation of voters exceeded all our expectations," said Kamel Jendoubi, head of the country's independent electoral commission (ISIE).
Before the voting began early Sunday, thousands of Tunisians lined up in front of the polling stations, waiting for hours to cast their ballots in the country's first such election since the toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali early this year.
Jendoubi, who was speaking at the first press conference since the start of the elections, said that it was not possible to give a precise participation rate for the time being.
The voting, which started at 7 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) and will proceed until 7 p.m. (1800 GMT), is meant to elect the 217- member constituent assembly tasked with drafting the country's new constitution and paving the way for legislative and presidential elections within 12 months.
"The people of Tunisia are writing a new page of their history today," said the country's interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, the official press agency TAP reported on Sunday.
Essebsi made the statement after voting in a polling station in Ariana, north of the capital. He voiced the hope that this process becomes "irreversible," saying that he was "confident in Tunisia's commitment to move forward as a sovereign and advanced country."
Around 7.3 million eligible voters will choose their representatives among 77 political parties, two coalitions and hundreds of independent lists. Some 11,000 candidates are vying for a seat in the constituent assembly.
Final results of the voting are expected to be announced on Monday.
More than 40,000 police and army have been mobilized for the event.
For the first time in the country's history, hundreds of foreign observers will observe the elections, which will also be covered by some 600 foreign journalists.
"Even if Ennahdha, the country's main moderate Islamic party, is expected to win the elections, the diversity of the parties listed, ranging from Islamist, hard line communists to main stream progressive parties, will guarantee inevitable surprises," said Hichem Hlioui, an academic who told Xinhua that it was the first time he had witnessed such an affluence of voters.
"I felt truly proud of being Tunisian," he said.
With so much at stake, Tunisians know that the elections will send a strong signal to the rest of the region, where anti- government protests have triggered political changes. Many hope that regardless of the results, no one will doubt the legitimacy of the election results.
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