Tunisia votes in historic free election.

Vote in Tunisia

Tunisians vote to elect a constituent assembly, nine months after being ousted President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. More than seven million voters to the polls.

The turnout should be high, if we judge by the queues at polling stations. According to BBC Africa correspondent in Tunis, voters turned out en masse and were enthusiastic. According to the president of the electoral commission, Kamel Jendoubi, the crowd "exceeds all expectations." After decades of authoritarian rule, Tunisians feel for the first time, that their vote counts.

This consultation is the first free and democratic election. However, Kamel Jendoubi said authorities were investigating allegations of irregularities. Would be sent text messages to mobile phones of voters to influence their vote.

The stakes are very high: the winning parties will develop the new constitution. The assembly also control the future government. More than a hundred political parties are represented. All of the Islamist party Ennahda to lay the PDP, promised to govern together for SAVING the gains of the revolution. But some voters, including among young people behind the uprising against former President Ben Ali, boycotting the vote. They believe that the Tunisian youth is not represented by political parties. 

The favorite is the Islamist party. Ennhada said he take to the streets in case of fraud. Members of the security services are deployed around polling stations, but voters interviewed by the BBC did not seem bothered by their presence. The 6000 election is monitored by local observers and more than 500 of their counterparts from abroad.

News by BBC