Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, 2011

Background

Senior party members of the disbanded former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, were banned from standing in the election if they had been active in politics within the last ten years. Originally, the ban would have applied to all former senior party members (spanning 23 years instead of 10), but this was revised after protests by former RCD members.

The election campaign officially started on 1 October 2011.

Electoral system

The voting system allocated seats through proportional representation within various multi-member districts on closed lists based on thresholds set as the quotient of votes cast divided by seats contested. All party lists were required to alternate between male and female candidates.

Domestic districts

Each governorate of Tunisia had a designated number of seats based on population (Tunis, Sfax, and Nabeul, the three largest governorates by population, were split into two electoral districts each). Districts within Tunisia ranged in size from four to ten seats. Each delegate represented approximately 60,000 inhabitants, in a country of 10.5 million.

International districts

Eighteen of the 217 constituent assembly members represented Tunisians abroad. Almost a million Tunisians live abroad, with up to 500,000 Tunisians in France.

Polling for expatriate Tunisians took place in 80 countries around the world. France, Tunisia's former colonial ruler, elected ten representatives; Italy three; Germany one; North America and the rest of Europe two; and other Arab states two.

Around 60,000 Tunisians living in Germany were eligible to vote. In Canada, where around 16,000 Tunisians live, voting took place at the Tunisian embassy in Ottawa and the consulate in Montreal. In the United States, where an estimated 14,500 Tunisian citizens live, polling took place in Washington, D.C., New York City, Miami, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. In the United Kingdom, there were 4,700 potential voters and voting took place in Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.

Parties

Secularism vs Islamism

The primary topic of discussion during the campaign was the role of secularism and Islam in public life. After the fall of the Ben Ali government, the ban on the Hijab in public institutions was lifted. Many of the secularist parties formed after Ben Ali's party was dissolved. The repression of Islamists goes back to the days of Habib Bourguiba.

Though Ennahda sought to establish an Islamic democracy guaranteeing civil freedoms and equality, some secularists claimed that the party would endanger civil rights if it came to power. Secularists were also alarmed at violent protests by religious conservatives against the broadcast of the film Persepolis (which depicted God, something considered blasphemous in Islam) by Nessma TV. Ennahda condemned the violence, but maintained that the film had "touched everything that is sacred for Tunisians".

Campaign finances

Another major issue was the role of campaign finances. The PDP alleged that Ennahda ran their campaign unfairly because, they claim, Ennahda received money from Gulf billionaires. However, Ennahda denied the claims and asserted that they simply use their money efficiently and fundraised more effectively due to having greater support. They pointed out that their moderate policies had alienated many people in the Gulf, who believed in radical Salafist and Wahhabi ideas. Others alleged that the pro-business PDP and smaller UPL (founded by a Libyan businessman born in Tunisia) had themselves received unfair funding, as they had the support of the rich native business community.

Form of government

As the Constituent Assembly had to decide on a new constitution for Tunisia, the contenders presented different proposals for the configuration of the new democratic system. The Ennahda Movement envisioned a parliamentary model with a strong prime minister, inspired by the United Kingdom or Germany. Conversely, at least the PDP and the CPR favoured a French-style semi-presidential republic.

Observers

There were more than 10,000 domestic and 500 international observers for the election, some members of delegations from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Union and the Carter Center.

Polls

Opinion polls showed that a large part of the population had not chosen for whom to vote. Ennahda was consistently placed first, followed by the Progressive Democratic Party, the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties and the Congress for the Republic. In general, parties founded before the revolution scored better than post-revolutionary parties.

In a poll partly sponsored by Al Jazeera, 47% of the respondents said they strongly identified with Islamism, 19% with Arab nationalism and 19% with liberalism. Only 6% felt strongly in favour of communism or socialism, respectively. A poll released by Sigma on 10 September showed that 57% of respondents agreed with a referendum that could set a limit on the duration of the Assembly's mandate, while 18.6% were against; 24.3% did not know.

Although polling results varied from source to source, it was generally believed Ennahda would do well. Most previously undecided voters shifted towards the secular, center-left parties while Ennahda support remained steady. After early September, polls showed a close race between Ennahda and a potential coalition of secular parties.

Date of election

On 8 May 2011, interim prime minister Béji Caïd Essebsi voiced concerns that the election might have to be delayed. However, on 18 May 2011 the PM affirmed the election date would be adhered to. On 22 May 2011, the head of the country's independent electoral body Kamel Jendoubi suggested a delay to 16 October 2011, but this was rejected vehemently by the government, and very few of the political parties running in the election were in favour of the postponement. Jendoubi insisted on the delay, stating that he needed more time to prepare electoral lists and renew over 400,000 old identity cards, but the final decision would rest with the interim president.

The delay proved to be a very controversial issue, with the Ennahda Movement withdrawing from the National Council for the Safeguard of the Revolution until the election date issue was resolved.

The election, originally scheduled for 24 July 2011, was finally postponed to 23 October 2011 on 8 June 2011. Despite concerns over the delay, all major parties approved of it, even the Ennahda Movement; other parties approving the new election date included the Progressive Democratic Party, Ettajdid Movement, Al Majd, the Tunisian Workers' Communist Party and the Social Liberal Party.

Tunisians in Canada

In September, the government of Canada declared that it would not allow Tunisia to open polling stations in its territory because it refused to be included in another country's electoral constituency. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called the issue "a matter of Canadian sovereignty". In response to Canada's opposition, Tunisia threatened to refuse to allow Canadian observers to monitor the election, but later reversed its decision and decided to accredit them. On 18 October, an agreement was reached between the two countries to allow Tunisians to cast their vote in Ottawa, at the Tunisian embassy's consular and diplomatic premises, and in Montreal, at the consulate and at a Tunisian community center.

Results

There were a total of 11,686 candidates on 1,517 lists: 828 running with political parties, 655 running as independents, and 34 running with party coalitions. There are 33 constituencies, with one party list per group per constituency registered. Each governorate elected between four and ten representatives. The total number of parties contesting the election was about 100.

Tunisian expatriates elected their representatives on 20–22 October 2011.

After Kemal Jendoubi, the head of the Electoral Commission, announced the result, Ennahda claimed victory in the polls amidst expectations of getting about 40% of the vote, which would account for 24 of the 27 districts, according to Samir Dilou. Fellow party member Lotfi Zitoun said that: "I think that al-Nahda will win between 50 and 55 per cent of the seats, with the Congress Party for the Republic [sic] (CPR) coming in second place." Reuters quoted Ali Larayedh as saying that Ennahda would consider forming a coalition with both Ettakatol and CPR. The CPR indicated it was also open to this possibility, but would only stay in a coalition with Ennahda as long as civil liberties were not under threat.

Reactions

Ennahda's Rachid Ghannouchi said after the victory announcement: "We salute Sidi Bouzid and its sons who launched the spark and we hope that God will have made Mohamed Bouazizi a martyr. We will continue this revolution to realize its aims of a Tunisia that is free, independent, developing and prosperous in which the rights of God, the Prophet, women, men, the religious and the non-religious are assured because Tunisia is for everyone."

Afek Tounes' had 17 high-level resignations after the election.

International

The former Iranian foreign minister and leader of the Islamic-nationalist opposition Freedom Movement of Iran Ebrahim Yazdi wrote to Nahda's al-Ghannushi saying: "In Muslim countries once a set of despots have been overthrown, another set of despots immediately take their place. This is what happened in Iran. Despite struggling for fundamental rights, freedom and self-determination, we Muslims from any nationality lack sufficient experience with democracy. We struggle and overthrow dictators but we don't remove tyranny as a mode of governance and a way of life."

Controversies and violence

Aridha Chaabia had lists in six electoral districts (8 seats total) voided by the electoral commission on the grounds that it violated election rules by campaigning during the purdah period and because of evidence of foreign funding. At the first announcement of the disqualification, Tunisian journalists in the electoral commission's media center burst into applause and sang the Tunisian national anthem, demonstrating a general suspicion of the Aridha Chaabia lists. In reaction, the party's supporters set fire to the mayor's office and a court in Sidi Bouzid and more than 2,000 protesters congregated outside Ennahda's headquarters in the same town and pelted stones at security forces. Hachmi Hamdi then also said that he would withdraw all 19 seats won by the party. In reaction to the violence a curfew was imposed from 19:00 on 18 October to 5:00 on 29 October and, though tensions remained, there were no violent incidents reported. However, Aridha Chaabia's other list leaders refused to withdraw; consequently Hamdi reverted his decision and also called on the leaders of the nullified lists to appeal against the decision. The Administrative Court accepted, on Tuesday, the appeals filed by Aridha in the districts of Sidi Bouzid, Sfax-1, Jendouba, Kasserine and Tataouine. Aridha Chaabia thus recovered 7 of its 8 invalidated seats, bringing its total to 26. Following this, however, twelve parliament members of Aridha Chaabia resigned from the party and declared themselves independent members.

There were also other minor violations of the electoral code in regards to publicity on the day of the election itself, but it was decided that those were not serious enough to warrant disqualification of the seats gained.

Analysis

Aridha Chaabia's surprise success was linked to its populist rhetoric and its party leader Mohamed Hechmi Hamdi being the only prominent politician not from the coastal regions (he was born in Sidi Bouzid). The party opted for campaigning in rural regions of Tunisia (particularly the south), which are often ignored by mainstream politicians.

Despite concern amongst the Western media about a possible hindrance to women's rights as a result of Ennahda's plurality, Souad Abdel Rahim of Ennahda said: "The doors are open for women now. We can sense that there has already been an impact. Even in Saudi Arabia, women can now vote," adding that Islamist parties in the Arab world should have a "framework" for women's advancement.

Government formation

Ennahda stated it would propose Hamadi Jebali, the party's secretary-general, as the new PM, but would not field a candidate for president and was open to supporting another party's candidate or the incumbent interim PM. Later, Ennahda named Mustapha Ben Jafar (secretary-general of Ettakatol), Moncef Marzouki (leader of CPR) and Beji Caid Essebsi (the interim PM) as possible candidates for the interim presidential period. Ettatakol stated that it would not nominate Ben Jafar for the position of prime minister, but was still not sure whether to participate in a coalition government with Ennahda and CPR.

On 28 October, Ennahda said a new government could be formed within ten days. Hamadi Jbeli said that talks had already begun on forming a coalition government with the priority agenda being to revive the national economy after the revolution. Rachid Ghannouchi added that Ennahda would honour its undertaking to write a new constitution within a year: "This government will look to establish common grounds through providing a government plan proposal for a year."