Tunisia in new delay of first post-revolt local poll

A new date next May has been set for Tunisia's first post-revolt municipal elections, already long delayed, polling officials said Saturday.

The Independent High Authority for Elections said the polling date was set at May 6, rather than March 25 as previously announced, at a meeting with political parties which requested the delay to better prepare for the vote.

The polls have been seen as the final stage in Tunisia's transition to democracy following its 2011 uprising which sparked the Arab Spring revolutions.

Following the uprising, municipalities were dissolved and replaced by "special delegations" -- provisional bodies set up to manage urban centres.

This has coincided with falling standards of living in cities and towns where the collection of garbage has been random and quality of infrastructure deteriorated.

At the election, almost five million Tunisians are eligible to vote to elect the leaders of 350 municipalities.

Tunisia has been praised for a relatively democratic transition over the past six years, during which a new constitution was adopted and legislative and presidential polls held in 2014.

Source:AFP