TUNIS: Tunisia’s interim President Foued Mebazaa Thursday congratulated a top-level council for “succeeding in its mission” of steering through political and electoral reforms as it wound up its work.
Yahd Ben Achour, president of the commission, presided over the last meeting of the high council which was held in Bardo palace and attended by Mebazaa and Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi.

Set up in February after dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled a popular uprising in January after 23 years in power, the council was tasked with undertaking political reforms and bringing about a democratic transition.
“The high council has succeeded in its mission, notably in setting up the ISIE [electoral commission], Mebazaa said, stating that the body “was present at the most difficult times the country went through.”
He commended the hard work of Ben Achour and a council “which encountered differences but also knew how to find a consensus.”

“Today we want to reassure the people. There has been no vacancy in the institutions of state,” he added.
Tunisians hold elections on Oct. 23, to vote for a constituent assembly that will draw up a new constitution. Nearly 11,000 candidates will contest the elections in 27 districts, with opinion polls showing that the profusion has left voters undecided.

During nine months and under a lot of pressure, the steering committee has given the North African country a new electoral code and established rules for the financing of political parties.
Ben Achour on several occasions expressed his commitment to success “in the interest of the revolution” and told AFP that “we have pulled off a miracle” in May by drawing up the electoral law in three weeks.

The high council succeeded in maintaining contacts with the Islamist party Ennahda, who are favorites in the election, and with the other main political movement, the Progressive Democratic Party, which is center-left.
But Ennahda several times walked out on high council meetings, accusing the body of making decisions without consulting all its members.
Nejib Chebbi of the PDP, for his part, accused the council of “acting like an elected parliament when its members were appointed.”

The council was at the outset a purely technical committee of legal experts charged with revising the laws of the fallen government, but it was swiftly expanded to include members of all the political movements and of civic groups.
“We have achieved an improbable synthesis of revolutionary logic and institutional logic,” Yadh Ben Achour repeatedly said, expressing his optimism.