Outsiders battle political elite as Tunisia votes
Outsider candidates challenged Tunisia’s political elite yesterday as voters returned to the polls weeks after a presidential election that reshaped the country’s post-Arab Spring political landscape. The ink-stained fingers once proudly displayed after the 2011 revolution were briskly wiped clean as Tunisians fed up with the status quo cast ballots for MPs for the third time since the uprising. More than 15,000 candidates on 1,500 lists are contesting 217 seats in a parliament dominated by the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha. Polling stations for the seven-million electorate are to remain open until 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), with preliminary official results scheduled for Wednesday although exit polls will be released from late yesterday. Surveys circulated informally due to a ban on their publication predict Ennahdha will lose ground to the new Qalb Tounes (Heart of Tunisia) party of jailed business tycoon Nabil Karoui, who has won a place in a two-way presidential runoff on October 13.
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