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Souad Abderrahim, top of the list of the Islamist party Ennahdha during the first democratic municipal elections in Tunisia, was elected Tuesday mayor of Tunis, a first for a woman.
For the first time, a woman was elected mayor of Tunis. Souad Abderrahim represented the Ennahdha party for the first democratic municipal elections in Tunisia. "I offer this victory to all the women of my country, to all the youth and Tunisia" launched, visibly moved, the new 53-year-old man, manager of a pharmaceutical company. 19659003] Abderrahim, a member of Ennahdha's political bureau but who defines himself as independent, was elected by the new municipal councilors, with 26 votes against 22 for his main opponent, Kamel Idir. This former local leader under the regime of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, was the head of the Nidaa Tounes party, founded by the current president Beji Caid Essebsi.
Municipal boycotted
Souad Abderrahim was elected at the a second round boycotted by some elected representatives from the left and center, refusing to vote for one or other of the two hegemonic parties. Islamist-inspired party and currently ally of Nidaa Tounes at the national level, Ennahdha had led in many localities during the municipal May 6, the first since the 2011 revolution in Sfax, the second largest city and major economic center , a friend of Ennahdha was also elected mayor at the end of June.
In the capital, Ennahdha came in first but without an absolute majority, with 21 seats out of 60, in a vote marked by strong abstention fueled by persistent economic difficulties and distrust of elites. Across the country, the independent lists won the most seats, with 2,367 elected in the 350 municipalities, or 32.9%.
Modernizing the image of the party
Abderrahim is a long-time companion to the Ennahdha party, but the movement was accused during the campaign of using it to modernize its image. An activist during her university years, she was a member of the Ennahdha block at the Constituent Assembly from 2011 to 2014, where she was controversial for criticism of single mothers, before disappearing from the political landscape, to the municipal.
The new mayor of Tunis rejects the label "Islamist" in the image of the party itself, which was transformed mid-2016 into a party "civil referent Islamic " acting as a separation between politics and religion. He now defines himself as a "democratic Muslim". "We chose transparency as a slogan" Abderrahim said, insisting he wants to work with all the other parties. Of the four main badistants of Mrs. Abderrahim elected on Tuesday, two are from the list Ennahdha, one of Nidaa and one is independent.
" Make beautiful Tunis "
"The first case will be to make beautiful Tunis" said Souad Abderrahim. The Tunisian capital is particularly confronted with a problem of waste management, which worsened after 2011. These elections mark the beginning of decentralization, a crucial project in a country where the municipalities were until then not very autonomous, dependent on a central administration often clientelist
Since the revolution that drove Ben Ali out in 2011, they were administered by special delegations, often with poor management. Abderrahim, who will have to leave his company under the law, becomes the first "sheikh of the medina" the traditional male title given to the mayor of the capital because he holds a special function during certain religious holidays.
More and more women in power
Like her, many women have come to access local power through a very strict law on parity. According to the Independent Electoral Commission (Isie), 47% of elected officials are women, 573 of whom are heads of lists (29.5% of the total). Municipal councils are still forming, but the proportion of the number of women mayors in Tunisia could be relatively high, said observers.
According to the NGO Al Bawsala, out of the 270 municipal councils invested Tuesday night, 53 were presided by women, about 20%, against 16% of women mayors in France according to the badociation of mayors of France.
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