Tunisia’s Electoral Commission Opens Door for Candidacy in Upcoming Parliamentary Elections

Presidential candidate Kais Saied speaks during an interview with Reuters, as the country awaits the official results of the presidential election, in Tunis, Tunisia September 17, 2019. (Reuters)
Presidential candidate Kais Saied speaks during an interview with Reuters, as the country awaits the official results of the presidential election, in Tunis, Tunisia September 17, 2019. (Reuters)
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Tunisia’s Electoral Commission Opens Door for Candidacy in Upcoming Parliamentary Elections

Presidential candidate Kais Saied speaks during an interview with Reuters, as the country awaits the official results of the presidential election, in Tunis, Tunisia September 17, 2019. (Reuters)
Presidential candidate Kais Saied speaks during an interview with Reuters, as the country awaits the official results of the presidential election, in Tunis, Tunisia September 17, 2019. (Reuters)

Head of Tunisia’s electoral commission Farouk Bouaskar announced Monday that 1,706 candidates across the country will compete for the 161 seats of the lower house of parliament.

Tunisia’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for December 2022.

Bouaskar said in press statements that the commission has received around 326,000 recommendations from registered voters for a number of candidates, who will be elected directly instead of via party lists.

On Sunday, the electoral commission published a list of its 27 central offices distributed around different areas, where candidates are to submit their nominations.

President Kais Saied vowed to make new changes to the electoral law he enacted in September, citing “manipulation” in the registration process of nominated candidates.

Several human rights organizations interested in electoral issues and a political party participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections expected Saied to draw back the conditions stating that the candidate shall obtain 400 endorsements from voters within the district, half of them women and a quarter of them under the age of 35, according to the law’s updated article 21.

Saied has not yet announced the expected amendment to the electoral law.



Syria to Take Time Organizing National Dialogue, Foreign Minister Says

 Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria to Take Time Organizing National Dialogue, Foreign Minister Says

 Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria will take its time to organize a landmark national dialogue conference to ensure that the preparations include all segments of Syrian society, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said on Tuesday, according to state media.

The conference is meant to bring together Syrians from across society to chart a new path for the nation after opposition factions ousted autocratic President Bashar al-Assad. Assad, whose family had ruled Syria for 54 years, fled to Russia.

"We will take our time with the national dialogue conference to have the opportunity to form a preparatory committee that can accommodate the comprehensive representation of Syria from all segments and governments," Shibani said.

Diplomats and visiting envoys had in recent days told Syria's new rulers it would be better not to rush the conference to improve its chances of success, rather than yield mixed results, two diplomats said.

The new government has not yet decided on a date for the conference, sources previously told Reuters, and several members of opposition groups have recently said that they had not received invitations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday time was needed for Syria to pick itself up again and rebuild following Assad's overthrow, and that the damage to infrastructure from 13 years of civil war looked worse than anticipated.

Since Assad's fall on Dec. 8, Türkiye has repeatedly said it would provide any help needed to help its neighbor rebuild, and has sent its foreign minister, intelligence chief, and an energy ministry delegation to discuss providing it with electricity.

Türkiye shares a 911-km (565-mile) border with Syria and has carried out several cross-border incursions against Kurdish YPG militants it views as terrorists.