Presidential and legislative elections kick off in Tunisia on October 24

TUNIS, October 19 (IslamOnline.net) – The presidential and legislative elections in Tunisia are picking up steam with only four days to go. Yet, they failed to steal the limelight from the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Politicians and rival Members of Parliament hoped to see voters come in droves to keep them posted at their platforms. Alas, the voters turned away to mosques, family visits, cafes and literary saloons.

Activists and party loyalists tried in vain to lure people into the ballots, grabbing a handful of people only to save face.

"I don't give a damn to elections because they are the same as ever," smiling Nourdin Karimi, a shopkeeper, told Al-Quds Press news agency on Tuesday, October 19.

"I only care about how to make a living in such hard times."

Karimi, in effect, appeared to be speaking for a broad section for Tunisian society, which is preoccupied with daily bread and butter.

"The government should have delayed theses elections until after Ramadan given that people here think of nothing but this holy month. They don't think it was worth all the hassle to follow up the elections process," added Salih Barhoumi, a school teacher.

Projections indicate that some five million Tunisians will cast their votes in the October 24 election.

Mohammad Bu Shiha, candidate of the People's Unity Party, Mohammad Ali Al-Helwani, of the Renewal Movement and Munir Al-Baji, of the Liberation Social Party, are all running for president against Bin Ali.

Hopeful MPs will also compete for only 49 seats in the 189-seat lower house of parliament. The ruling Democratic Constitutional Coalition party has 140 seats in the current legislature.

But of the 49 seats, opposition parties are allowed 37 seats as a quota preset by the government.

Three Tunisian opposition parties have called on the Tunisian people to boycott the presidential and legislative elections.

Tunisians last May massively (99%) voted for amending the constitution to allow President Zine Al-Abdine Bin Ali, who has been in power since 1987, to stand for a fourth five-year mandate.

They also voted to lift the age limit for Presidential candidates from 70 to 75, meaning 67-year-old Ben Ali could run again in 2008.

Under the old constitution, the President was only allowed to remain in office for three terms.

In a July report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said dozens of Tunisian political prisoners have been held for years in solitary confinement as part of a deliberate government strategy  to crush the political opposition.