?The board members from the Independent Higher Authority for Elections (ISIE) attend a press conference in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 23, 2018. The Tunisian electoral authority said on Friday that a total of 2,173 electoral lists were submitted for the municipal elections scheduled for May 6 as the candidacy application concluded Thursday. (Xinhua/Adel Ezzine)
TUNIS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Tunisian electoral authority said on Friday that a total of 2,173 electoral lists were submitted for the municipal elections scheduled for May 6 as the candidacy application concluded Thursday.
Among these lists, 1,099 are from political parties, 897 from independent candidates, and 177 from the coalitions, Mohamed Tlili Mansri, the president of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections (ISIE), said at a press conference.
The two parties in power, the liberal party Nidaa Tounes (the ruling party) and the Islamist party Ennahda, come at the top of the table with 350 lists for each.
Main opposition coalition the Popular Front comes in the third position with 132 electoral lists.
"The application phase is successfully completed," said Mansri.
Nabil Baffoun, a high ISIE member, highlighted the neutrality of the electoral authority since the electoral process started last December.
"This neutrality should be anchored throughout the campaign elections" scheduled from April 14 to May 4, he said.
It will be the first local elections in Tunisia since the popular uprising in 2011.
Among the 350 constituencies in 24 provinces of the North African country, the highest number of lists was recorded in the eastern coastal province of Monastir with 190 lists, followed by the central province of Sidi Bouzid with 130 lists, and the central-western province of Kasserine with 128 lists.
