Info
Parties and Candidates
PC001
Registration requirements for parties (Chamber 1)
Question: What are the registration requirements for political parties running for national elections (Chamber 1)?
Answer(s):
c . Regional distribution requirement e . Minimum number of candidates f . Other
Comments: The application for candidacy and its attachments must include:
names and order of candidates in the list; an authorization signed by all candidates; copies of national identification cards or passports; the name of the list; the symbol of the party, coalition list or independent list; the designation of a representative for the list from among the candidates; a complementary list of no less than two candidates and no more than the number of candidates in the original list; and evidence of submission of annual tax returns for the preceding year.
The number of candidates in each list is required to be equal to the number of seats in the respective constituency.
Applications for candidacy shall be presented on the basis of the principle of parity between women and men, and the rule of alternately ranking women and men on the list. Unless required to do so by the odd number of seats in a constituency, any list violating this principle will be rejected.
In any constituency where the number of seats is equal to or more than four, every candidate list should have among the first four candidates a male or female candidate of no more than thirty five years of age. In case of non-adherence to this requirement, the list will be denied half the total value of the public funding grant.
Source: Organic Law n° 2014-16 of 26 May 2014 on Elections and Referenda, art. 21, 22, 24, 25: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/tunisia-organic-law-on-elections-and-referenda/view (2014).
Verified: 2019/08/05
PC003
Registration requirements for candidates (Chamber 1)
Question: What are the legal qualifications to become a candidate at legislative elections (Chamber 1)?
Answer(s):
a . Age b . Citizenship j . Other
Comments: Every Tunisian voter who has acquired Tunisian nationality at least ten years prior and is no younger than twenty three years of age on the day of candidacy is eligible to be elected to the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, provided that they are not prohibited from holding such a position as specified by the law.
Source: The Constitution of 26 January 2014, art. 53: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/tunisia-constitution-of-26-january-2014/view (2014);
Organic Law n° 2014-16 of 26 May 2014 on Elections and Referenda, art. 19: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/tunisia-organic-law-on-elections-and-referenda/view (2014).
Verified: 2019/08/05
PC008
Independent candidates
Question: Can independent candidates compete in presidential or legislative elections?
Answer(s):
e . In both presidential and legislative elections
Comments: A candidate in the 2014 presidential elections must be endorsed by ten members of the National Constituent Assembly or ten thousand registered voters distributed over ten constituencies at least, at a minimum of five hundred voters per constituency.
Source: Organic Law n° 2014-16 of 26 May 2014 on Elections and Referenda, art. 41 (1), 171: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/tunisia-organic-law-on-elections-and-referenda/view (2014).
Verified: 2019/08/05
PC012
Public funding of parties
Question: Do political parties receive direct/indirect public funding?
Answer(s):
b . Direct c . Indirect
Comments: Each candidate or candidate list shall be allocated a grant as public assistance to electoral campaign funding. The candidate or list shall receive half the grant before the launching of the campaign. The second half is to be disbursed within one week of the announcement of the final results of the elections, subject to presenting evidence that the first installment was spent on campaign expenses and depositing the ledgers at the Court of Accounts.
A full refund of the grant is mandatory for any candidate that gets less than 3% of valid votes on the national level, or any list that gets less than 3% of valid votes on the constituency level without winning a single seat in the Assembly of Representatives of the People. Any disbursements proven to be unrelated to electoral expenses are to also be refunded by the list or candidate. The State reclaims any undisbursed funds. Any candidate or list that fails to adhere to the 3% threshold may not have access to the public funding grant in the following elections.
In addition, parties are entitled to equal access to the public media and free public space.
Source: Organic Law n° 2014-16 of 26 May 2014 on Elections and Referenda, art. 62, 65, 78: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/tunisia-organic-law-on-elections-and-referenda/view (2014).
Verified: 2019/08/05
PC015
Question: What is the basis of the public funding?
Answer(s):
e . Other
Comments: The amount of the public funding each candidate list is entitled to for the 2014 legislative elections is calculated in proportion to the number of registered voters, the cost of living and the size of each electoral constituency.
Source: Decree n° 2014-2761 of 1 August 2014 regulating private and public funding for the 2014 legislative elections, art. 2: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/decret-nb0-2014-2761-du-1er-aout-2014-fixant-le/view (2014).
Verified: 2019/08/05
PC017
Question: Are political parties entitled to private funding?
Answer:
a . Yes
Comments:
Source: Organic Law n° 2014-16 of 26 May 2014 on Elections and Referenda, art. 75, 77: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/tunisia-organic-law-on-elections-and-referenda/view (2014);
Decree n° 2014-2761 of 1 August 2014 regulating private and public funding for the 2014 legislative elections, art. 2: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/TN/decret-nb0-2014-2761-du-1er-aout-2014-fixant-le/view (2014).
Verified: 2019/08/05
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