Yesterday’s parliamentary election came ahead of presidential elections on November 23, 2014.

The Independent High Authority for Elections, the elections governing institution in Tunisia will proclaim the October 26, 2014 parliamentary election results by Thursday this week as it has three days from the polling day to proclaim results.

Tunisians both at home and abroad yesterday voted in the 219 members of the country’s Assembly of the Representatives of the People (ARP), the new parliament.  The 219 Members of Parliament will replace the old parliament, the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), which was elected on October 23, 2011. The lawmakers elected on October 26 will be in office for a five-year term according to the new Constitution passed on January 26, 2014.

Tunisians abroad voted for 18 seats allocated to them from October 24-26.  The registered 140 voters in the Central African sub-region voted at the Polling Station located at the Tunisian Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon. The Tunisian Ambassador to Cameroon, Abderrazak Landoulsi told Cameroon Tribune there were over 1,327 lists in general for the election. He said the Embassy merely provided logistics and the polling officers were appointed by the   Independent High Authority for Elections.  The Ambassador thanked the Cameroon government for security measures taken to ensure that the polling process took place in calm and serenity.

The diplomat said Tunisia was the first country to organise parliamentary elections in the Diaspora, stating that the results will determine which political party or coalition rules the country for the coming five years. News agency reports said the parliamentary election will pave the way for the first round of the presidential election to hold on November 23, 2014.