An election for a constituent assembly in Tunisia was announced on 3 March 2011Tunisia to elect constituent assembly on 24 July, says president FOCUS Information Agency, 3 March 2011 and held on 23 October 2011, following the Tunisian revolution, a part of the Arab Spring uprisings. The Assembly had 217 members. It was the first free election held in Tunisia since the country's independence in 1956, as well as the first election in the Arab world after the start of the Arab Spring.

The result was announced after counting began on 25 October 2011, and Ennahda won a plurality of votes.

Background

The dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which started in 1987, ended in January 2011 with Ban-Ali fleeing to Saudi Arabia and his regime crumbling.Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, p. 99

A committee was formed to set the electoral rules for the country's first fair election. It consisted of leaders of political parties, labor unions and civil society organizations, chosen by improvisation. The committee chose closed list proportional representation, using the Hare quota and the largest remainder method, and set other rules. Within a few years, knowledge of which committee members favored the chosen system or alternatives and why was lost, except a vague recollection that the system was chosen as being inclusive to less-popular groups. Hare, being larger than Droop, means that more-popular parties get fewer seats than smaller quotas such as Droop. The relatively large district magnitude, a number of districts having five to ten seats, means that less-popular groups also have more of a chance. Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, p. 99

Senior party members of the disbanded former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally(RCD), 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 and continued until 20 October, 24 hours before polling. The election was held on 23 October 2011 and was the first competitive national election following the fall of the Ben Ali regime. Approximately 4.3 million of the estimated 8.2 million eligible voters participated. More than 11,000 candidates contested the 217 seats, and the election produced a fragmented assembly in which Ennahda won the largest number of seats, with 89.

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. Districts elected from one to ten members, with most electing five to ten.Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, p. 99

Party lists were required to alternate between male and female candidates.

Domestic districts Each member represented a district with approximately 60,000 inhabitants, in a country of 10.5 million. Each governorate of Tunisia was allocated a number of members based on population, with most governorates having just one district. The three largest governorates by population --Tunis, Sfax, and Nabeul, -- were given more than ten members so were each split into two electoral districts. Districts within Tunisia ranged in size from four to ten seats.

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. Six districts were organized -- 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, Ontario and the consulate in Montreal, Quebec. 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. The United Kingdom contained 4,700 potential voters, and voting took place in Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.

Parties

The largest and most organised party was the center-right and moderately Islamist Ennahda. Its platform included economic liberalism, as well as allowing Islam to have a greater presence in public life. Its leader Rachid Ghannouchi did not run in the election saying that he had no ambitions to be in government. Instead, General Secretary Hamadi Jebali ran as the prime ministerial candidate. The Congress for the Republic (CPR), centered around secularism and intellectual freedom. Ettakatol or FDTL, a secular social democratic party. Most of its support came from social media and grassroots volunteers. Al Aridha, the Popular Petition for Freedom, Justice and Development, a populist party. The Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) a secular, socially liberal, and economically centrist party, with leanings towards a mixed economy. Like Ennahda, it was well-funded and was able to run a nationwide campaign. The party benefitted from the support of the business community. The Al-Watan Party and The Initiative (Moubadara) emerged from the dissolved and banned Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) and represented key figures of the ousted Ben Ali regime. The Democratic Modernist Pole, a coalition led by the Ettajdid Movement, which is primarily focused on implementing political change. It is strongly anti-Islamist. Support for the coalition has dwindled due to infighting and an increase in support for other secular parties. Afek Tounes, a liberal center-right party with focus on secularism and civil liberties. A number of communist parties, by far the largest of which is the trade union-centered Tunisian Workers' Communist Party. Although they had only limited support, they were well organized and expected to win seats. A number of these far-left parties were centered around human rights and anti-globalisation.

Issues

Secularism vs Islamism The primary topic of discussion during the campaign was the role of secularism and Islam in public life. The repression of Islamists goes back to the days of Habib Bourguiba. After the fall of the Ben Ali government, the ban on the hijab in public institutions was lifted. 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 used 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.

Poll source Date(s) administered Sample size Afek Alwatan CPR Ennahda Ettajdid/ PDM Ettakatol Initiative MDS PCOT PDP UPL None ANSAmed 5 March 2011 1,021 – – – 29% 7.5% – – – – 12.3% – 61% Al Jazeera 28 May – 2 June 2011 1,244 – – – 21.0% – – – – 5.0% 8.0% – 54% Emrhod 8 June 2011 1,000 – – 7.3% 45.8% 11.1% – – – 12.5% 20.3% – 51% Sigma 10 June 2011 1,014 0.9% 3.1% 3.0% 16.9% 1.0% 3.5% 0.4% – 1.5% 9.5% – 59.7% 3C ÉtudesIslamisten führen in Umfragen derStandard.at, 7 July 2011 7 July 2011 ? – – – 14.3% – 1.6% – – 0.8% 4.7% – 67% ISTIS 28 August 2011 2,717 0.82% 1.62% 1.26% 22.82% 1.37% 5.93% 1.09% 3.14% 2.28% 8.66% 0.83% – Sigma 10 September 2011 2,513 0.7% 3.1% 4.5% 22.8% 1.3% 9.2% 3.1% – 0.8% 10.9% 1.7% 40% HSSPerception de la transition démocratique en Tunisie, September 2011, Hanns Seidel Foundation (www.hss.de). Retrieved on 22 October 2011. 22–24 Sep 2011 1,035 3% 3% 8% 25% 2% 14% 3% – 3% 16% 3% 21%

Controversies

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 by the government, and 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 controversial issue, with the Ennahda Movement withdrawing from the National Council for the Safeguarding 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