- Title: TUNISIA-ELECTION/PREPARATIONS Tunisians gear up for parliamentary vote
- Date: 25th October 2014
- Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (OCTOBER 24, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HABIB BOURGUIBA AVENUE VARIOUS OF CLOCK TOWER KNOWN AS " ALMNJALH" TUNISIAN FLAGS VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTER AND BANNERS BANNER READING: "ELECTION ENDS TERRORISM" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TUNIS RESIDENT, EDRIS ALHAMROUI, SAYING: "By the will of god, every Tunisian should go and vote. It is an opportunity to show if he is a real Tunisian or not. What I mean is, those who will not go and suffer from the disease of fear, should not go buy bread or go to school, or work. Voting is just like any of life's main necessities." PEOPLE SITTING IN CAFÉ TENT PUT BY CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS TO ENCOURAGE VOTING IN ELECTIONS BANNER READING: "IF U LOVE TUNIS GO AND VOTE" VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS HANDING OUT LEAFLETS URGING TO VOTE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TUNIS RESIDENT, AMINA ALFITORY, SAYING: "I'm going tomorrow morning to vote. Honestly there is no encouragement. If you ask anyone in my family they will say no I am not going to vote but we need to think about Tunisia's future and the future of our kids if everyone won't go to vote then what's the point of doing the election then we should just cancel it." VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTERS ON WALLS VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTER READING "OCTOBER 26 -- WE CHOOSE THE TUNISIA WE LOVE"
- Embargoed: 9th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Tunisia
- Country: Tunisia
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6W71GJFN0KAG9NQUEE9NJCGS7
- Story Text: The Tunisian capital is plastered with election posters and banners as the country prepares to hold parliamentary elections on Sunday (October 26).
Tunisians will vote in only their second ballot since the 2011 revolt against Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's corrupt and repressive rule.
217 seats are up for grabs among more than 100 parties ranging from secularists and socialists to Islamist movements.
On the streets of Tunis, there is excitement in the air as the vote looms.
Tunis resident Edris Alhamroui urged every Tunisian to cast the ballot.
"Every Tunisian should go and vote. It is an opportunity to show if he is a real Tunisian or not. What I mean is, those who will not go and suffer from the disease of fear, should not go buy bread or go to school, or work. Voting is just like any of life's main necessities," he said.
Amina Alfitory too said the election offered an opportunity to bring about change.
"I'm going tomorrow morning to vote. Honestly there is no encouragement. If you ask anyone in my family they will say no I am not going to vote but we need to think about Tunisia's future and the future of our kids if everyone won't go to vote then what's the point of doing the election then we should just cancel it," she said.
Since the revolt, Tunisia's sometimes shaky transition to full democracy has been seen as a model of compromise.
Much of the debate for Sunday's vote has been focused on economic opportunities, security, and how to create jobs and development -- more than the questions over religious identity that dominated the 2011 legislative election.
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