Democracy day arrives in Tunisia

TUNISIANS go to the polls today for the first general election since the toppling of authoritarian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

In what represents the first major democratic test of the Arab spring, millions of Tunisians are expected to cast their vote in the North African nation’s first truly free elections since independence from France in 1956.

The historic day falls nine months after the revolution that heralded the end of Ben Ali’s 23-year rule, sparking a succession of uprisings that have reshaped the political landscape of the Arab world.

Polls were due to open at 6am this morning and are expected to close at 6pm, with results scheduled to be announced tomorrow.

On the eve of the elections, the streets of the capital were buzzing as rival supporters embarked on last-minute campaigning, with car horns blowing on the tree-lined Bourguiba Avenue, where protesters faced down Ben Ali’s security forces in January.

More than 100 political parties are seeking a place on the assembly that will appoint a new government and then write a new constitution to replace a half-century-old dictatorship.

The elections are also being closely watched because the front-runner, Ennahda, is a moderate Islamic party whose victory, especially in a comparatively secular society such as Tunisia, could have wide implications for similar religious parties in the Arab world.

The campaign season has been marked by controversies over advertising, fears over religious polarisation and concerns about voter apathy, but the final rallies at least were marked by optimism and some excitement.

With so much at stake, there are concerns that doubts over the legitimacy of the vote could bring supporters of rival parties out onto the streets.

The provisional government has said that 40,000 police and soldiers will be deployed to prevent any protests spilling into violence.

Shopkeepers claimed people have been stockpiling milk and bottled water in case unrest disrupts supplies.

However, observers have said the progress Tunisia has made in such a short space of time augured well for today’s vote.

“There is almost a sense of wonderment that they have gotten as far as they have,” said Les Campbell, director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Washington-based National Democratic Institute.

“The first thing that strikes me is that the political parties are expressing confidence in the officials running the elections and that’s good news and a good predictor of things to come.”

Strict rules about campaign advertising in the streets and in the media have made for a curiously muted campaign compared with many countries in the midst of elections, but in the past few days there has been a sense that Tunisians are increasingly excited about casting their votes.

There are 7.5 million potential voters, though only 4.4m, or just under 60 per cent, are actually registered. People can vote with their identity cards, but only at specified stations, which some fear may cause confusion.

Voters in each of the country’s 33 districts – six of which are abroad – have a choice from around 40-80 electoral lists, consisting of parties and independent candidates.

In stark contrast, voters going to the polls in previous elections only had to take the red ballot for the ruling party, place it in an envelope and drop it in the ballot box. Many voters have expressed some bewilderment at the range of choices.

In another sign of how far things have changed, what was once one of the most closely monitored societies has now thrown open its doors to election observers – 500 foreigners alongside 5,000 locals – and journalists. The election commission was momentarily swamped in the week before polling day as it tried to process 1,500 applications for accreditation.

Polling stations will be guarded by soldiers as well as police this time around, and it will be the army gathering up ballot boxes rather than the security forces, which many still associate with the old regime.

A proportional representation system will probably mean that no political party will dominate the assembly, which is expected to be divided roughly between Ennahda, centrist and left-wing parties, requiring coalitions and compromises during the writing of the constitution.

The campaign’s final week was marred by a controversy over a private TV station broadcasting the award-winning French-Iranian animated film Persepolis that included a depiction of Allah considered sacrilegious by Islamic conservatives.

Thousands demonstrated against the Nessma station and there were clashes in the streets with police. Ultra-conservative Muslims, known as Salafists, even firebombed the home of the station’s owner.

The incidents were used by many of the centrist and leftist parties as evidence that radical Islamists were trying to roll back the country’s secular and progressive traditions, especially in regard to women’s rights. In its final open-air rally on Friday, the other front-runner, the centrist Progressive Democratic Party, continued to hammer home its message that it was the only grouping strong enough to defeat the “extremists,” a veiled reference to Ennahda.

“We will continue to fight extremism and defend moderation and centrism, fear has no place with us,” said party leader Maya Jribi, to thunderous applause from supporters.