The reluctance to go to the polls is the result of average Tunisians' rejection of the idea of parliament, and citizens need time to regain their trust in those who govern them because parliamentary democracy is essential, President Kais Saied said on Tuesday. The head of state was commenting on the turnout for the December 24 local elections during his visit to the El Fouladh steel factory in Menzel Bourguiba, Bizerte governorate. According to a video released by the Presidency of the Republic on the president's visit to the steel factory, the head of state added that he prefers to announce real results and figures rather than false results that exceed 90 per cent. The president pointed out that Tunisians had lived in the shadow of sham parliaments and then parliaments made up of mafias, without generalising. He expressed his amazement at the paradox of the martyrdom of Tunisians during the colonial period to elect a Tunisian parliament and their rejection of the idea of a parliament today. He addressed his speech to the elected members of the local councils, stressing that they are responsible to those who elected them, regardless of the percentage of votes they received. The Board of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) on Tuesday approved the preliminary results of the first round of the 2023 local elections. According to a statement from the ISIE, the board also examined the proposals of the local authorities to cancel the results of some of the winners and to approve the decisions of their collection centres. The ISIE will announce the preliminary results of the first round of local council elections, which took place on Sunday, December 24, on Wednesday at 6pm at the Media Centre in the Sports Dome in El Menzah. According to ISIE President Farouk Bouasker, the total turnout in the first round of the local council elections reached 11.66 percent when polling stations closed at 6pm on Sunday evening. The total number of voters reached 1 million, 59 thousand, 4 voters out of a total of 9 million, 80 thousand, 987 registered voters. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
