Tunisians voted Sunday in an election seen as
pivotal to establishing democracy in the cradle of
the Arab Spring uprisings, with security forces
deployed heavily to avert extremist attacks.
Three hours into the vote, which got underway at
7:00 am (0600 GMT), turnout had reached 25
percent, said Chafik Sarsar, head of the ISIE body
organising the election.
Tunisia has been hailed as a beacon of hope
compared with other chaos-hit countries like
Libya and Egypt where regimes were also
toppled.
But transition in the North African country has
been tested at times by militant attacks and
social unrest, with the final turnout expected to
indicate the level of public disaffection.
Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa hailed Sunday’s vote
as “historic”.
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