General elections were held in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 25 October 2009. Results released on 26 October 2009 indicated a substantial victory for incumbent President

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...

, who won the reelection for a fifth five-year term, and the governing

Constitutional Democratic Rally The Democratic Constitutional Rally or Democratic Constitutional Assembly ( ar, التجمع الدستوري الديمقراطي ', french: Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique, sometimes also called Constitutional Democratic Rally in E ...

. It was the last election contested under the Ben Ali regime, prior to the

Tunisian Revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine ...

Observers

The

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of member states of the African Union, 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling fo ...

sent a team of election observers to cover the election. The delegation was led by

Benjamin Bounkoulou Benjamin Bounkoulou (born 25 September 1942"Bounkoulou Benjamin", ''Congo Brazzaville: Les Hommes de Pouvoir'', number 1Africa Intelligence 29 October 2002 .) is a Congolese politician who served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister o ...

who described the election as "free and fair".Tunisian president in fifth win
BBC News, 26 October 2009. However, a spokesperson from the

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

indicated that Tunisia did not allow international monitoring of elections, but the U.S. was still committed to working with the president of Tunisia and its government. There also were reports of mistreatment of an opposition candidate.Opposition leader who gave TV interview in Paris is beaten by police on his return
''Menassat'', 1 October 2009

Results

President

The Interior Ministry released the official results for the election on Monday 26 October 2009.Fifth term for Tunisia's president

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

, 26 October 2009. Voter turnout was recorded at 89.40% with 4,447,388 of Tunisia's 5.3 million registered voters participating.A parliamentary majority for the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) with 89.59%
Tunisia Online News, October 26, 2009. In the presidential race, incumbent president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali won 89.62% of the vote. His nearest rivals were Mohamed Bouchiha with 5.01% of the vote and Ahmed Inoubli with 3.80%, and Ahmed Brahum with 1.57%.

Parliament

In the Chamber of Deputies election, the Democratic Constitutional Rally, which had governed continuously from Tunisia's independence from France in 1956 until the

, won 84.59% of the vote and 161 seats. The Movement of Socialist Democrats won 16 seats with 4.63% of the vote, the Popular Unity Party won 12 seats and 3.39% of votes, The Unionist Democratic Union won 9 seats with 2.56%. The remaining 16 seats were divided between the Social Liberal Party, who won eight seats, the Green Party for Progress, who won six and the Movement Ettajdid who won two seats.

References

External links

Presidential and Legislative Elections in Tunisia - 2009

Media

Ben Ali reelected with 89 per cent
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Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

Unsurprising victory for Ben Ali
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Final results give President Ben Ali a fifth term
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France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-M ...

Ben Ali wins unsurprising landslide in presidential election
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{{Tunisian elections

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Elections in Tunisia 2009 in Tunisia Presidential elections in Tunisia October 2009 events in Africa