Registration for candidates seeking to stand for
Tunisia's presidency will kick off on August 2, an electoral official
said Sunday, as the country is arranging for a democratic transition
after the death of president Beji Caid Essebsi earlier this week.
Essebsi, Tunisia's first democratically elected president, died on
Thursday aged 92, almost five years after he took office.
Shortly after his death, parliamentary speaker Mohamed Ennaceur was
sworn in as interim president for a maximum period of 90 days, during
which a new president must be elected, according to the constitution.
The period for accepting applications from potential contenders will
run for a week from August 2 to 9, said the deputy head of the
election commission, Farouk Bouasker, on Sunday.
The campaigning period has been cut from the usual 22 days to 13
days, Bouasker told the Tunisian state news agency TAP, without
details.
"The electoral commission will meet on Tuesday with political parties
to inform them of details of the new election calendar," he added.
Tunisian flags fly at half-mast in honor of late Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, in Tunis, Tunisia