Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) – Tunisians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president from among 22 candidates after the withdrawal of five others.
Altogether, 27,000 observers were accredited and 65,000 representatives of candidates, deployed to various polling stations, were involved in the process, covered by 1,000 journalists from national and international media.
According to the chairman of the higher independent election body (ISIE), Chafik Sarsar, the presence of observers is considered an essential guarantee for the success of the polls, for they are the “foreign independent eyes” of candidates and also those of the government and the judicial system.
Tight security measures were in place as polls opened at 8 a.m. local time, with the deployment of some 100,000 armed and security forces in all the centres and polling stations.
Photo: Ibtimes
