Tunisia held its first free municipal elections Sunday as voters expressed frustration at the slow pace of change since the 2011 revolution in the cradle of the Arab Spring. The election has been touted as another milestone on the road to democracy in the North African country, which has been praised for its transition from decades of dictatorship.
But Tunisia has struggled with persistent political, security and economic problems as well as corruption since the revolution, and observers expected a low turnout for Sunday's poll. At a polling station in the capital, 58-year-old Ridha Kouki acknowledged that voting is "a right and a duty" but said Tunisians "have little hope" of any change.
Chokri Halaoui, 45, said he wanted to send a "message to politicians to tell them 'we have voted, now show us what you can do'." But only 13.6 percent of voters had cast their ballots by midday, according to the electoral commission.
And despite bars and a clothing brand offering discounts to people with ink-stained fingers proving they had cast ballots, young voters were markedly absent from polling stations in the capital. Unemployed graduate Kamilia Mlouki, 23, said she had come "to exercise my right" by casting a blank ballot.
"I have no more faith in any political party or electoral list," she said. Tunisians have already voted in parliamentary and presidential elections since the 2011 fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but municipal polls had been delayed four times due to logistical, administrative and political deadlocks.
President Beji Caid Essebsi has called for a "massive turnout". Casting his ballot on Sunday, Essebsi he urged Tunisians to vote, saying "democracy cannot be imposed but must be exercised". Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahdha movement, also urged a large turnout by "young Tunisian voters", admitting however that politicians "don't hold all the keys to progress".