Tunisia’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) Chairman Mohammed al-Mansri al-Talili revealed that voter turnout in municipal elections held on Monday reached 1,796,154 voters, representing a participation rate of only 33.7%. Talili stressed that the lowest participation rate belonged to the “Première circonscription de Tunis” constituency at 26 per cent. Monastir recorded the highest voter turnout at a fair 46 percent. The electoral commission is expected to announce official results on Tuesday morning, with full results expected to be announced the following Wednesday. For the time being, the IHEC decided to suspend holding of municipal elections in the southwest. Polling in that area was pushed to an unspecified time, after the voting process being disrupted by riots objecting to errors made in the distribution of electoral lists. Spread across 350 constituencies in 24 provinces, 11,185 polling stations opened early Sunday to host the 5.3 million registered Tunisian voters, who will elect their municipal councilors from more than 53,000 candidates on 2,074 electoral lists, which consist of 1,055 party lists, 860 independent lists and 159 coalition lists. The ruling party Nidaa Tounes and its main ally the Islamist party Ennahda (Renaissance) are seen as the two major political forces in the elections. According to prospects announced by a Tunisian opinion poll, the Ennahdha party won 27.5% of the votes, while the ruling party Nidaa Tounes ranked second with 22.5%, while independent lists in southern provinces defeated both parties. Independent lists are set out to win over 48 seats, Ennahda party 27 seats, and Nidaa Tounes is expected to only land 12 seats. Each of Machrouu Tounes, Peoples Movement , Al-Irada parties are expected to split 9 seats equally. Commenting on the results, Popular Front (PF) spokesperson Hamma Hammami said 25 percent of registered voters took part in the municipal elections. “This is a punishment for the ruling party and Nidaa Tounes,” Hamammami said. Hamami also played down the importance of the two parties’ wins, saying that their limited success “does not represent a real victory in light of the weak voter turnout.” For his part, Ennahdha party Spokesman Imad al-Khumeiri said his party was very satisfied with the results it had achieved in the municipal elections, although the polling isn’t final yet. He called on various political parties, whether ruling or representing the opposition, to “learn a lesson from the reluctance of Tunisians to participate, and work to improve those percentages in coming elections.”