Presented as a crucial political moment, the December 17 legislative elections were supposed to be the final act of Tunisia’s state of exception which began on July 25, 2021. If nothing else, this affirmation deserves to be put into perspective.

Presented as a crucial political moment, the December 17 legislative elections were supposed to be the final act of Tunisia’s state of exception which began on July 25, 2021. If nothing else, this affirmation deserves to be put into perspective.
The new electoral law unilaterally decreed by president Kais Saied spurred outcry among women’s rights advocates in Tunisia. In protest of the new legislation, a feminist movement formed of nine associations staged a sit-in before the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE). As these activists voice demands for absolute parity between men and women in the public sphere, the president’s backwards approach to equality threatens to reverse women’s political gains.
In Bouzaiéne, one week after the legislative elections, residents are in mourning. Grieving their revolt, they speak only of disappointment. Here, nothing has changed, neither the high rate of unemployment, nor the shortage of water, nor the loss of dignity.