At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Tunisia

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Zine El Abidine BEN ALI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Mohamed GHANNOUCHI
• Assembly: Tunisia has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Chamber of Counselors (Majlis al-Mustasharin) with 126 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis Al-Nuwab) with 214 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by a plurality system to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Chamber of Counselors (Majlis al-Mustasharin), 85 members are elected by an electoral college to serve 6-year terms and 41 members are appointed by the President to serve 6-year terms*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis Al-Nuwab), 161 members are elected in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 37 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* Electoral college consists of municipal councilors and members of regional councils. One-half of the upper house is renewed at each election.

** There are 25 multi-member constituencies. Voters vote for lists of candidates. The list with a plurality of votes wins all seats in the constituency. In the proportional tier, there is one nationwide constituency.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Zine El Abidine BEN ALI
  • Party: Constitutional Democratic Rally

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,486,339 (July 2009 est.)
• Registered Voters: 5,296,008 (2009)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,258,871 (2009)

·         Is Tunisia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (24 July 1980)

·         Has Tunisia ratified CEDAW: Yes (20 September 1985)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 59 (following the 2009 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 96 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Tunisia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Tunisia ratified CRPD: Yes (2 April 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 1,572,950 (est.)