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Municipal elections in Tunisia slated for Dec. 17

Xinhua, April 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

The President of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) of Tunisia Chafik Sarsar announced on Monday that the municipal elections are scheduled for Dec. 17, 2017.

At a press conference in the capital Tunis, Sarsar said an official document relating to the election date was presented to the president last Friday after consultations with various political parties.

It is a document "which will be considered as a social pact between the electoral authority and all the interveners in this process," said Anouar Ben Hassen, who is in charge of finance at the Independent High Authority for Elections.

"It has been agreed that December will be the last deadline for the municipal elections," said Sarsar.

"ISIE is highly committed to this date and will not be responsible for any delays. Concerned parties will have to make a final decision on this," said ISIE member Adel Brinsi.

Any delay could affect the entire electoral process, he warned.

In order to meet the deadline, the local authorities code must be approved, the special delegations which has been acting in place of the municipalities since January 2011 totally dissolved, the electoral districts finalized and necessary budget mobilized, Brinsi added.

The official election date has been an issue of debate for months as no consensus could be reached between the ruling and opposition parties, which insisted on holding election in March 2018

Postponed several times, the year-end municipal elections will be the first local elections at the regional level in Tunisia since January 2011. Endit