Tunisia votes in the first free municipal elections

Tunis. Tunisians headed to the polls on Sunday for the first free municipal elections since the 2011 revolution, seen as another milestone on the road to democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. Yet while the North African country has been lauded for its transition from decades of dictatorship, interest in the poll remains muted as struggles with corruption and poverty continue. Tunisians have voted in parliamentary and presidential elections since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but municipal polls have been delayed four times due to logistic, administrative and political deadlocks. “This Sunday will not be like other days. For the first time the Tunisian people are called to participate in municipal elections,” Tunisian President Caid Essebsi said on Saturday. (AFP)