2009 Tunisian general election

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on October 25, 2009. Results released on October 26 indicated a landslide victory for incumbent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the governing Constitutional Democratic Rally.

Candidates

There were four candidates in the presidential election:

• Incumbent Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Constitutional Democratic Rally)
• Ahmed Ibrahim (Movement Ettajdid)
• Mohamed Bouchiha (Party of People's Unity)
• Ahmed Inoubli (Unionist Democratic Union)

Results

The Interior Ministry released the final results for the election on Monday 26 October. Voter turnout was recorded at 89.40% with 4,447,388 of Tunisia's 5.3 million registered voters participating. In the presidential race incumbent president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali won 89.62% of the vote. His nearest rivals were Mohamed Bouchiha with 5.01% of the vote and Ahmed Inoubli with 3.80%, both of whom are viewed as largely cosmetic opposition. The nearest real opposition was Ahmed Brahum of the Movement Ettajdid ("change movement") who won 1.57% and was quoted as saying "At least, we've established the existence of a credible opposition movement in Tunisia" Hardline opposition parties and Islamist groups had been outlawed from standing in the election.

The result grants Ben Ali a fifth consecutive five year term of office since he took power in a bloodless coup in 1987. Ben Ali's vote share of 89.62% was the lowest percentage that he has ever received. Ben Ali was last re-elected in 2004 with more than 94 percent of votes – a drop from his previous victories of between 99.2 and 99.7 percent.

In the Chamber of Deputies election the Democratic Constitutional Rally, which has governed continuously since Tunisia's independence from France in 1956, won 84.59% of the vote and 161 seats. The Movement of Socialist Democrats won 16 seats with 4.63% of the vote, the Party of People's Unity won 12 seats and 3.39% of votes, The Unionist Democratic Union won 9 seats with 2.56%. The remaining 16 seats were divided between the Social Liberal Party, who won eight seats, the Green Party for Progress, who won six and the Movement Ettajdid who won two seats.

Observers

The African Union sent a team of election observers to cover the election. The delegation was led by Benjamin Bounkoulou who described the election as "free and fair". Opposition groups stated that the electorate had no genuine freedom of choice during the election. Political rights in Tunisia were given the worst rating possible by Freedom House in its 2009 annual report.

External links

• Presidential and Legislative Elections in Tunisia - 2009
• Ben Ali reelected with 89 per cent - Radio France Internationale