Tunis/Tunisia — 23 constituencies will not be concerned by the legislative runoff according to the preliminary results of the legislative elections, Spokesman for the Independent Higher Authority for the Elections (ISIE) Tlili Mnasri said.

The runoff will only concern 131 constituencies out of a total of 161.

In a statement to the media on Monday evening following the ISIE press conference, Mnasri pointed out that 19 candidates have already won their seats in the first round in constituencies with either one or two candidates and four others have won their seats by absolute majority.

A runoff election is organised in the event that an absolute majority is not obtained for one or more candidates in the first round.

Besides, he indicated that ten candidates (3 abroad and 7 at home) are automatically declared winners in the first round of in accordance with Article 109 of Decree-Law No. 55 of September 15, 2022, amending Organic Law No. 2014-16 of May 26, 2014, on elections and referendums.

The latter stipulates that in the event that a single candidate stands in his or her constituency, he or she shall be declared the winner regardless of the number of votes he or she obtains.

Mnasri further indicated that appeals against the preliminary results of the legislative first round can be filed as of Tuesday.

The deadline for filing appeals is one month, after which the final results of the first round will be announced ( January 19, 2023).

He added that the election campaign for the runoff will start on January 20, 2023. The final results of the two rounds will be announced on March 3, 2023.

Mnsari stated that among the candidates who won the first round or went on to the runoff are 11 former deputies, 24 candidates belonging to political parties, 27 mayors, 5 lawyers, already winners in the first round, and 3 engineers.