Tunisia holds presidential election.10/25/2009 4:33:55 AM Tunisians are preparing to vote in presidential and legislative elections that observers say will hand a new term to Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali The term Ben Ali can refer to:
More than five million voters, out of a population of 10 million, are registered to vote in Sunday's poll. Four candidates are competing for the presidency and eight parties are jostling for spots in the 214-seat chamber of deputies. Ben Ali, 73, is running for a fifth, five-year term, after taking power in a bloodless blood·less adj. 1. Deficient in or lacking blood. 2. Pale and anemic in color: smiled with bloodless lips. 3. palace coup in 1987. 'Democratic principles' In a television address on Saturday evening, Ben Ali said the election campaign "has been conducted within the framework of the law and democratic principles". "The law will be applied ... with rigour rig·our n. Chiefly British Variant of rigor. rigour or US rigor Noun 1. against anyone who spreads doubts or accusations about the integrity of the electoral process without providing hard proof," he said. Ben Ali is backed by virtually every labour union and his party, the Constitutional and Democratic Rally or RCD See residual current device. , has been continuously in power since Tunisia's independence from France in 1956. Two of his challengers, Mohamed Bouchiha of the PUP party and Ahmed Inoubli of the UDU UDU Underwater Demolition Unit UDU Uniformity of Dosage Units UDU Uma Data Unit , are seen as posing only a token of opposition. Ahmed Brahim Ahmed Brahim (born 1945) is a convicted Al-Qaeda member from Algeria. Spanish authorities arrested him in 2002 on charges that he was a chief financer for al-Qaeda in Spain. He is also alleged to have been a planner in the bombing of two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. , another candidate from the Ettajdid, or "Change" party, sent ripples through the country by declaring during the campaign that he would run "equal to equal" against Ben Ali. Dissent suppressed Ben Ali was last re-elected in 2004 with more than 94 per cent of the vote - a drop from his previous victories, which oscillated between 99.2 and 99.7 per cent. Under the current constitution, he can run for president for the last time as the age limit is set at 75. Ben Ali's opponents accuse him of suppressing dissent, although many voters credit him with making the North African North Africa A region of northern Africa generally considered to include the modern-day countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. North African adj. & n. Adj. 1. country one of the most prosperous in the region and overseeing political stability. Reporters without Borders A number of NGOs have adopted the "Without Borders" tag, inspired by Doctors without Borders.
Human-rights groups have levelled accusations of abuse against Tunisia, which enjoys strong diplomatic and business ties with the US and Europe. Aljazeera.net 2003 - 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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