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Tunisia Announces Three Dates for Upcoming Elections

The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in a meeting to set the upcoming electoral dates. (Independent High Authority for Elections)
The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in a meeting to set the upcoming electoral dates. (Independent High Authority for Elections)
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Tunisia Announces Three Dates for Upcoming Elections

The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in a meeting to set the upcoming electoral dates. (Independent High Authority for Elections)
The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in a meeting to set the upcoming electoral dates. (Independent High Authority for Elections)

The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) in Tunisia has unveiled the initial dates for holding the presidential, local, and municipal elections.

The ISIE stressed that a detailed calendar is being prepared to stage the elections on the time agreed, adding that the move would resume the political path suggested by Tunisian President Kais Saeid in 2021.

The official spokesman for the Authority, Muhammad Al-Talili Al-Mansari, said that Tunisia is currently in the preparation phase for the municipal elections, which he considered a priority at the current time, in addition to the elections of the National Council of Regions and Districts expected in October, and presidential elections expected in 2024.

As for the reason behind choosing October, Mansari remarked that the date takes into consideration the social stability of the Tunisian families and the return of the Tunisian diaspora to their work abroad, in addition to the weather that is usually adequate at that time of the year.

Adel Al-Barinsi, a former member of the ISIE, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the ISIE led by Farouk Bouasker should contact the parliament led by Ibrahim Bouderbala to fill the vacuum in the current parliament seats and determine a date for a partial parliamentary election.

The current parliament still has a vacancy in seven seats dedicated to Tunisians abroad, in which only 154 out of 161 MPs were elected due to the difficulty of organizing the process as no one ran for those elections.

Barinsi added that the ISIE is likely to be put under pressure pertaining to its impartiality and independence toward all social and political parties running for the elections, as well as regarding the financial resources sufficient for the success of the elections.

One voting station could cost the state’s treasury around 40 million dinars ($13.4 million), added Barinsi.

Mansari affirmed that it is early to speak about the presidential elections, adding that the Authority considers them regular elections scheduled for fall 2024 based on the elections law for 2014.

Several political activists have announced their intention to run for the presidential elections for 2024, including the President of the “Third Republic” party Olfa Hamdi, and the President of the New Carthage Movement Nizar Al-Shari.

Also, several political parties including Democratic Current and Workers' Party are preparing for the presidential elections by holding conferences and electing new political figures that can compete with Saeid.

 

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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.