Tunisia’s Municipal Elections: A Conversation with Rafik Halouani

Carnegie’s Sarah Yerkes moderated a discussion with Rafik Halounai, one of the founding members of Mourakiboun, a Tunisian civil society organization focused on election monitoring. Halouani expressed confidence that the municipal elections, which have been postponed several times, will occur on May 6, 2018, but he said he was concerned that voter turnout might be low. He explained that Tunisian citizens have lost faith in the system and no longer see elections as a means of change. He also described the success of Mourakiboun’s health clinic monitoring project, which allowed volunteers to have a direct impact on positive change in their communities. He said that he hopes that young Tunisians, in particular, will take advantage of the municipal elections to “change the game from the inside.”