The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) said turnout in Sunday’s legislative elections was only 41.3 percent, a drop from the first round of presidential polls during which 49 percent of voters headed to polling stations in September.
Asharq Al-Awsat toured a number of polling stations in Tunis and nearby neighborhoods and saw the limited turnout.
The enthusiasm witnessed in the 2011 parliamentary elections was absent. Back then, voters queued for hours in hot weather to practice their democratic right to vote.
Voter enthusiasm dropped slightly in the 2014 elections but was later revived when an alliance was formed between late President Beji Caid Essebsi’s liberal Nidaa Party and Rached Ghannouchi’s Ennahdha party.
Ennahdha and Qalb Tounes (Heart of Tunisia) were swift to claim Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
Ennahdha Spokesman Imed Khemiri announced in a press conference his party’s victory,.
Heart of Tunisia Spokesman Hatem Mliki also said that “according to preliminary results from polling stations, Qalb Tounes has come first.”
Two exit polls estimated that Ennahdha would win the most votes, about 40 out of the 217 seats in the Assembly of People’s Representatives.
The polls projected that Nabil Karoui’s Qalb Tounes would come second with 33-35 seats.
Karoui has been arrested on money laundering charges and tax evasion.
The split vote tends to complicate the government formation. The two parties have officially ruled out forming an alliance.
According to Sigma Conseil Polling agency, the Free Destourian Party, which represents the former regime, received 6.8 percent of the votes while the conservative right-wing Al-Karama party received 6.1 percent, ranking fourth.
Other parties received a new blow in the legislative elections, including Tahya Tounes, which came seventh with 4.7 percent of the votes, and Nidaa Tounes, winner of the 2014 elections, which came tenth with only two percent of the votes.
The preliminary results are expected to be announced on Oct.10, with the final results to be announced on November 13, according to ISIE President Nabil Baffoun.
Observers said independent Law Professor Kais Saied and Karoui’s victory in the first round of the presidential elections was most likely a reaction against the leaders representing the ruling coalition, which seems to be repeated in the current parliamentary elections.