NewsBreakingOnline

• Tunisians go to polls in first free election in history • Hope tempered with unease over old regime influence • Islamists expected to win most votes • Region in flux watches as Arab Spring sees first vote 4.07pm: Given the person who tweeted it, I thought it worth flagging up this message from one @SalmanRushdie : #Tunisia: it’s election day.First free elections after #ArabSpring.Will Islamists win?If so,will they be “moderate” as promised? Big moment. Asked by a Twitter follower if he would continue to “bash” An-Nahda if the party did win most votes, the author of the Satanic Verses replied: It depends if they become oppressive. Many oppressive regimes have been voted into power. We shall watch and wait. 3.06pm: Just a quick follow-up to that: Kamel Jendoubi, the chairman of the ISIE electoral commission has said it looks as though turn-out could be over 60%. At a press conference five hours into the vote, he said: “The turnout of Tunisians has exceeded all expectations.” 2.42pm: There’s no doubt about it: the queues forming outside some of the polling booths are seriously long. Take a look at this video posted on Facebook by Tunisie Média, which appears to be shot in La Marsa and show a line of people that takes over three minutes to walk down. “Bravo,” remarks the narrator at the end. Not that the wait seems to be deterring people. Time magazine’s correspondent Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) tweeted that she had “never seen such a huge voter turnout in my life…Young, elderly, men, women, rich, poor, liberal, conserv, educated, illiterate.” Blogger Emna Ben Jamaa posted this Tweet earlier: 4 hours of queuing in the sun, but I’VE VOTED!!! And @juvess commented: We have been waiting decades for these elections.. So a couple of hours line queuing does not harm 2.20pm: On my wanders I met Tarek Gasmi, a banker, sitting with his friend Lalhar Belkhir in a cafe. Both had the inky fingers of recent voters; both said they had voted for the first time in their lives. (Gasmi is 40; Belkhir, a civil servant, 55.) Gasmi, on the right in the photo, told me: I’m walking on air! It’s a dream for me. I look at Europe and I see a voting system and a way of living which I would like to see here. He voted for the social democratic party Ettakatol, which is vying for second place in the election with the centre-right PDP. (You can see an excellent Guardian film about the party here.) Asked what he thought of An-Nahda, Gasmi said: People say to me, ‘If you vote against An-Nahda, you’re voting against your religion.’ Our religion does affect our lifestyle a bit, but politically it’s time now for there to be a separation. 2.10pm: David Cameron has made a statement on the elections, describing them as a “remarkable achievement” and expressing the hope that they will be free and fair. The British prime minister said: For the first time today, Tunisians are able to express their views at the polling booth in what I hope will be free and fair elections. It is inspiring that so many candidates are competing for the opportunity to draw up the country’s new constitution. This remarkable achievement reflects how far the Tunisian people have come since January when they rose up against their autocratic ruler to demand their right to freedom, dignity and a better future. Their determination and courage inspired real change across the Middle East and North Africa. As the first country in the region to put democracy to the test at the polling booth, Tunisia is once again leading the way. Here’s a lunchtime summary. I’m off in search of cous-cous. • Voting has begun in the first free elections Tunisia has ever had. Nine months after Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali became the first dictator to be ousted by the Arab Spring revolts, queues have formed outside more than 7,000 polling stations as people wait to elect an assembly whose job it will be to draw up a new constitution. • As he arrived to cast his vote, the leader of the Islamist party tipped to come out on top from the election faced cried of ‘dégage!’ (‘get lost!’) from those waiting in line. Reports said Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of the once-banned An-Nahda party, had attempted to march straight to the front of the queue. He reportedly realised his mistake, and took his place at the back with other voters. (See 11.42am.) • According to the election commission, there have been just two reports so far of possible corruption. A map of reported irregularities shows no claims of threats or physical attacks, and no cases of fraud. The majority of infractions appear to relate to posters being stuck on walls that have not been officially approved. (See 10.31am.) 12.22pm: The Guardian’s Angelique Chrisafis has been out and about in Ettadhamen, a poor suburb of Tunis where hundreds were queuing to vote along “dusty, litter-strewn streets”. Men and women were in different lines. Here’s a selection of her latest Tweets: Teacher in ettadhamen: ’9 months ago you cdn’t even talk about politics in the street for fear of secret police. So proud to vote’ Cleaning lady in ettadhamen: ‘before, every election here was fixed. Let’s hope we can trust the politicians of tomorrow’ Student in ettadhamen: ‘i’m so excited to be voting to change tunisia’s future. I’m nearly 20, I’d like at least some hope of a job’ 11.42am: The big men of Tunisian politics have been out casting their vote in the glare of the cameras. Béji Caïd Essebsi, who has been Tunisia’s interim prime minister since February , voted in the north of the capital, declaring it to be “an unparalleled day of history” and himself to be “an ex-prime minister from now on”. The interim government will give way after the election to a new transitional authority. The founder of the An-Nahda party, Rachid Ghannouchi, turned out to vote in the El Menzah district of Tunis. As he arrived at the polling station with his family, the once-exiled leader strode straight up to the front of the queue, according to reports by AFP and on Twitter. He was called back by the waiting crowds. “The queue! The queue! That’s where demcracy starts!,” they shouted, AFP says. Smiling, he then took his place in the queue more than a kilometre from the entrance of the polling station. This video appears to show Ghannouchi being whistled and jeered as he made his way through the crowds. Voters are heard to cry the slogan of the revolution: “Dégage!” In comparison, Moncef Marzouki, head of the CPR, is attracting praise from his fans on Facebook for standing in line with everyone else. One man, Hatem Kabtni, has commented: He’s setting an example; a lesson in civic-mindedness and humility. Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, founder of the secular PDP, said it was “an exceptional day” that set an example for “the whole Arab world”. I have never seen anything like it. The queues are extremely long. Everyone is being patient. My father-in-law, who is 90, is voting for the first time. I am happy. This is Tunisia’s victory. We’ll see who will win but that is of secondary importance compared to this mobilisation. 11.33am: My colleague Sean Clarke has this report on gender-specific queues at polling stations- a phenomenon that has been welcomed by some this morning but decried by others. . 10.50am: I’ve been out speaking to people on the Avenue Habib Bourghiba, the grand Champs Elysées-esque thoroughfare that saw much of the action during the revolution. There, Safia Najar was walking with her 23-year-old daughter Rim, a Cultural Studies student. Both had just voted for the first time in Tunisia. For Rim, it was “a sign we are getting out of dictatorship. I am very hopeful.” She had voted for Moncef Marzouki’s centrist party, the CPR. Her mother, on the other hand, had voted for An-Nahda, the Islamist party. I am one of those people who have seen An-Nahda fight for years on end. They suffered the most [under Ben Ali]. I also think they are best positioned to give Tunisia back the Arabo-Islamic identity it has lost during the years of Ben Ali, Bourghiba and colonialism, too. Was she worried that the party, whose leaders insist on its moderate stance on women’s rights, might become more extreme in the future? “No. We’ve learned now how to say ‘dégage!’ (‘get out’!),” she said. Voting, she added, had been an emotional experience. I am delighted. I am 60, and I had never voted before in my life in Tunis. I never wanted to take part in the masquerade where you knew even before it had started that one party would get 80 or 90% of the vote. 10.31am: The ISIE, the Tunisian independent electoral commission, is publishing a live map of voting irregularities , and encouraging Tunisians to send SMS messages reporting any they witness. The map is quite encouraging so far: hundreds and hundreds of reports of parties sticking up posters other than on the officially approved walls. No reports of weapons being produced, though there are isolated reports of verbal or physical violence. 10.03am: As in many other countries, voters in Tunisia have their fingers dipped in ink to prevent them voting more than once. Tunisians are treating the blue finger as a badge of honour, photographing it and sharing the pictures on social networks to prove to friends that they’ve done their democratic duty. One group of proud citizens has even created a Tumblr mosaic of blue-finger pictures. 9.45am: It is worth stopping for a minute to remember the man whose personal act of desperate rebellion has come to be seen as the trigger for the revolution that followed. Mohammed Bouazizi, an unemployed graduate trying to eke out a living as a fruit and vegetable seller in the town of Sidi Bouzid, set himself on fire last winter when the police confiscated his grocery cart. He later died of his burns, and his self-immolation fuelled a wave of anger that eventually spilled into the capital and swept out Ben Ali. He has become, in death, one of the defining symbols of the Arab Spring. Speaking to Reuters hours before the polls opened yesterday, his mother, Manoubia, said her son was “no longer the son of Tunisia, he is the son of the whole world.” These elections are a moment of victory for my son who died defending dignity and liberty. Nothing would have happened if my son had not reacted against voicelessness and a lack of respect. But I hope the people who are going to govern will be able to keep this message in mind and give consideration to all Tunisians, including the poor. And you can read a recent report from Sidi Bouzid by the Guardian’s Angelique Chrisafis here. The neglected town, she writes, is still crippled by inequality, unemployment and the corruption of the old regime. 9.05am: The front pages of today’s francophone newspapers leave little doubt as to the importance of today’s vote. “Everyone to the ballot box,” commands Le Quotidien. “The Tunisian people go to win back their freedom and dignity,” headlines La Presse. “Aux urnes, citoyens!” (Tunisia, of course, was a French protectorate until 1956.) “We have been waiting for this day for a long time, a very long time,” writes the paper on its front page, charting the country’s struggle for independence and subsequent decades effectively spent under one-party rule. Now, as an accompanying cartoon points out, the time has come to change things: “I vote, therefore I am.” Le Quotidien writes that, today, a dream long in the making has come true. It adds: Our martyrs are no longer here to share with us the incredible joy of our march to democracy. But their sacrifices will always remain engraved into the heart of the nation and the memories of those benefiting today from the supreme privilege of freely electing those worthy of their aspirations. 8.27am: When they go in to mark their ballot sheet today, Tunisian voters will be confronted by rather more than a handful of options. While the RCD party of ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been outlawed, over 100 parties have sprung up in its place- some large, some tiny, but all with competing visions for the new Tunisia. (Take a look at some of them here.) There are around 11,000 candidates standing for election. Among the parties expected to garner the biggest number of votes, the Islamist An-Nahda party is the front-runner. Once outlawed and brutally repressed, it is now the best-organised political force in Tunisia, reports Angelique Chrisafis in this analysis. Its founder, Rachid Ghannouchi, who was exiled in London for decades, describes the party as moderate, tolerant, pro-democracy and keen to protect Tunisian women’s rights in a pluralist society. Pushing liberal and conservative policies, it has been likened to Turkey’s Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development party (AKP). Secular critics say the party is an unknown quantity and fear that, once elected, hardliners could seek to enforce a more fundamentalist Islam on Tunisia’s secular, civil society. Secular feminists have warned there would be fierce opposition if the party ever sought to roll back women’s rights in Tunisia, the most progressive in the Arab world. You can read Angelique’s overview of all the main parties here. 8.14am: Much of Tunisia’s revolution was played out online- on social networking sites and blogs- and election day, it seems, will be no different. On Twitter the celebrations are coming in thick and fast. Haykel Azak (@HaykelAZAK) has just posted this Tweet : Great People of Tunisia : We Finally Voted ! Proud to be part of you #Emotion #Tunisia #Tnelec #TnGloryDays And user @Khamousss says that today he is “a little prouder and in love with my country and my people”. Aujourd’hui je suis encore un peu plus fier et amoureux de mon pays et de mon peuple. #Tunisie #TnElec Even Google has got in on the act (thanks to my colleague Sean Clarke for spotting). 7.41am: At 7am this morning, more than 7,000 polling stations opened across the country. Outside many, queues had already formed. My Angelique Chrisafis has phoned in this report from the College Sadiki, an historic school near the Tunis Kasbah where the post-independence elite used to be educated and where Tunisians of all classes are today casting their vote: A 50-year-old woman called Samira was first in the queue: she said she had been up all night and couldn’t sleep, so got here at 5.45am and waited. She would not say which party she was voting for, but said: “This is the future of our country, the future of the next generation.” Samira, who works in a silver shop, said she had been at both protests in the Kasbah after the revolution and that a lot of people in her family were unemployed despite having degrees. Ramez Baltagi, a 23-year-old accountant who took to the streets during the January uprising, was also at the polling station. He said he had woken at 6am, and had only made up his mind whom to vote for on the way to the College. “This is really important to have a legitimate government,” he said. “We’ve been at a loss with all these temporary transitional governments. This is a step towards a legitimate government.” 7.32am: Good morning, sabah al-khair and bonjour. Nine months after they took to the streets en masse and forced their president onto a plane to Saudi Arabia, Tunisians vote today in the first free election in their history and the first to have come from the tumult of the Arab Spring. Across the country of the Jasmine revolution, millions are expected to cast their vote to elect an assembly which will then have the powers to draw up a constitution and appoint a new transitional government. It is, as the electoral commission this morning declared, le jour-J- D-Day. . . Tunisian elections 2011 Arab and Middle East unrest Tunisia Africa Middle East Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk