Tunisia’s President Kais Saied urged citizens to vote on Saturday as polling booths opened for the first parliamentary election to be held under the disputed political structure he built after seizing broad powers last year.
The election for the House of Representatives, one of two chambers in the new parliamentary system, is being held under an electoral law that Mr Saied introduced by decree in September.
Major opposition political parties called for a boycott of the election and the usual campaigning around the country was missing in the lead up to the vote.
The election is “a historic moment for change and cannot be missed”, Mr Saied said after casting his ballot at a school in the Ennaser district of Ariana governorate, near the capital Tunis.
“These legislative elections will block the way for those who appointed themselves as guardians of Tunisia.” he told reporters.
“The next parliament should work to meet the social and economic demands.” he said.
Polling booths opened at 8am and will close at 6pm except in some border cities and municipalities. Voting opened at 9am in the provinces of Kasserine, Jendouba, Medenine and Sidi Bouzid, El Kef and Siliana, and is scheduled to close at 4pm, while polling booths in Djerba, Houmt Souk, Midoun, Djerba Ajim and Zarzis will stay open until 8pm.
Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections, whose members were appointed by Mr Saied in May, said 270,032 of the 9,136,502 registered voters had cast their ballots by 10am.