TUNIS, 25 October 2004 — Tunisians voted yesterday in general elections boycotted by several opposition parties and widely expected to see President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali re-elected after 17 years in power.

Ben Ali, Tunisia’s second leader in half a century, called the presidential and parliamentary polls fair, and a boost for democracy.

Critics dismissed the elections as a farce to disguise what they say is a police state which beats dissidents, makes arbitrary arrests, and holds a tight grip on media.

The ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), is expected to dominate the legislative elections, as by law 80 percent of the seats in the 189-seat parliament are reserved for the ruling party. The remaining 20 percent are contested by the country’s six opposition parties.

The Democratic Progressive Party, the main opposition party in the north African country, pulled out of the poll citing unfair conditions, including censorship of its election manifesto and limited access to voters and media.

The pro-free market government rejects the charges. “It’s not fair that he seeks a fourth mandate. He should have opened the way for a democratic alternative,” a teacher who declined to be named said after voting for opposition candidate Mohamed Ali Halouani in a posh Tunis suburb.

Other challengers for the presidency are Mohamed Bouchiha, secretary-general of the Popular Unity Party (PUP), and Mounir El-Beji, secretary-general of the small Social Liberal Party.

Bouchiha is related to Ben Ali’s wife and has effectively endorsed the president’s reelection bid, as has El-Beji.

Halouani, who admits he has no chance of winning, is the only candidate to have boldly taken on the head of state denouncing the elections as a farce and calling for a “true democracy”.

But his message has failed to reach a wide audience as he is little known in Tunisia. Authorities barred publication of his electoral manifesto because it was deemed too critical of the government.

In a televised message on Saturday, Ben Ali said the electoral campaign had taken place in a “civilized” fashion and noted that a team of observers from the Arab League were in the country to oversee the elections.

The government said almost all of Tunisia’s 4.6 million eligible voters had cast ballots shortly before polling closed at 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT). Results are expected to be announced today.

Halouani said the results were a foregone conclusion but he believed his effort would stimulate some democracy.

“Our information indicates no massive voter turnout. There are some irregularities, like ... officials urging voters to back Ben Ali and the RCD,” he said. The country’s independent human rights group was denied permission to monitor the polls.

“I voted for Ben Ali because as a woman I am grateful, but also because of security and stability,” said 24-year-old Fatma Moussa, who is unemployed.

Economic growth under Ben Ali has averaged five percent in the past decade. More than two-thirds of households own homes. Women rights are among the most advanced in the Arab world.

Ben Ali, a former army general and interior minister, came to power in 1987 after he arranged for President Habib Bourguiba to be declared senile and unfit to rule. Opponents accuse him of re-creating the president-for-life rule that Bourguiba, who died in 2000 aged 97, set up.

He has won three elections and a constitutional referendum in 2002 to allow him to run again — each time with more than 99 percent of the vote in polls criticized by human rights groups as a sham. Multi-party politics was introduced in 1999.

Diplomats and rights activists said a new endorsement with another 99 percent majority or so would send the wrong message abroad. Rights advocates here say the country has escaped the kind of criticism heaped on other repressive regimes in the area because its allies — in Europe and the United States — tend to focus on Tunisia’s sound economic performance and its success in containing radical Islamic activism.

Ben Ali may ultimately be forced to ease his tight grip on power to deal with future challenges of maintaining strong economic growth and satisfying a growing middle class. “People have access to foreign television channels, see what’s happening abroad, many travel abroad.

It will all lead to change at one point,” said human rights lawyer Radhia Nasraoui.