Tunisia's elections delayed until Oct. 23

[June 08, 2011]  TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) -- Tunisia is delaying its first elections since the ouster of the country's longtime autocratic president until October because the conditions aren't right to hold a vote, the prime minister announced Wednesday.

The elections had earlier been planned for July 24, but Tunisia's electoral commission proposed last month they be postponed, saying much more needed to be done to organize the vote, including updating voter registration rolls.

Tunisia's new experiment with democracy is being closely watched because the popular uprising in the North African country sparked similar pro-democracy revolts around the Middle East that is being heralded as the new "Arab Spring."

The interim Cabinet met briefly Wednesday, and Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi announced elections would be held Oct. 23.

Those in favor of the July date had said it was important the vote go ahead to bring political stability to a country now experiencing simmering tensions and occasional deadly eruptions of violence.

But the nascent political movements have said they need more time to prepare for elections in a country that was dominated for decades by the ruling party and heavy-handed security forces of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Under Ben Ali's 23-year-reign, a single party known as the RCD, which is now officially dissolved, controlled the country; opposition parties represented in parliament were largely symbolic.

The regime was finally brought down by a month-long series of popular demonstrations that forced Ben Ali and his family to flee for Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14, ushering in period of uncertainty for this country of 10 million.

Once one of the most tightly controlled dictatorships in the region, Tunisian has experienced an explosion of new political movements with some 81 new parties officially registered.

In a report issued May 26, however, the electoral commission pointed to "numerous shortcomings and deficiencies" in the organization of the election. It noted in particular that about 3 million Tunisians aren't included on the electoral database and hundreds of thousands others don't have any, or valid, identity cards.

The elections are for a constituent assembly meant to write a new constitution that could pave the way for legislative and presidential elections.

[Associated Press; By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA]

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