Tunisian interim PM calls on people to vote

Tunisian interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi on Thursday called on people to vote on Sunday, pledging that the elections will be fair and transparent in spite of "rumors and threats from some parties." "The elections will be transparent and clean," the prime minister said in a television address on Thursday night, reiterating that Tunisian people should vote without fear of rigging or violence. Essebsi reassured that there will be no power vacuum after the elections scheduled on Oct. 23, saying the interim government will pursue its duties till the appointment of a new government by the Constituent Assembly to be elected one day later. "We will prove that Islam is not in contradiction with the values and principles of democracy," he said. On Oct. 23, the North African country will vote for a 218- member assembly, which is tasked with drafting a new constitution and running the country for a twelve-month period, prior to the legislative and presidential elections.