Tunisians head to the polls on Sunday May 06,2018 for the first free municipal elections since the 2011 revolution, seen as another milestone on the road to democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring
Tunisians have voted in parliamentary and presidential elections since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but municipal polls have been delayed four times due to logistic, administrative and political deadlocks.
"This Sunday will not be like other days. For the first time the Tunisian people are called to participate in municipal elections, something that seems simple but it is very important," Tunisian President Caid Essebsi said on Saturday May 05,2018More than 57,000 candidates, half of them women and young people, are running for office in Tunisia's 350 municipalities.
Some 60,000 police and military personnel have been mobilised for the polls, while Tunisia remains under a state of emergency, imposed in 2015 after a string of deadly jihadist attacks.
Voting runs from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm local time (0700 - 1700 GMT) and results are expected in the coming days.
The municipal polls will be followed by legislative and presidential votes in 2019.
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