Tunisia union says election run-offs could cause chaos

A second round of elections would cause chaos and should be postponed following record-low turnout in parliamentary voting last week, the powerful UGTT union said on Thursday, saying the resulting parliament would have no legitimacy.

Only 11.2% of the country's eligible voters participated in the election last week, sparking widespread criticism from the opposition, which said that President Kais Saied should step down and pledged mass protests.

The UGTT union, with more than a million members, has previously paralysed the economy with its strikes.

Although it backed Saied when he seized most powers last year by shutting the elected parliament, it has withdrawn its support after he moved to rule by decree and wrote a new constitution that was passed in a referendum in July.

"I was expecting that after low turnout, the president would say that he received the message and admit that the path was wrong.. but is going ahead with his plan," Noureddine Taboubi the head of UGTT said.

"It would be wise to postpone the second round to avoid chaos," he said.

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Saied has rejected the opposition's criticism, saying that the turnout should not be counted in one session, but rather after a further round of voting, expected to take place in February, although no date has been set.

Run-offs will be held in most Tunisian regions after only 21 candidates secured victory in the first round of parliamentary elections, the electoral commission said this week.

Under the new constitution drafted by Saied and approved by the July referendum, the new parliament will have very limited powers.

The election was part of a series of political changes Saied made after he shut down the previous parliament last year, in moves his critics have called a coup.

(Reuters)