TUNIS - (Xinhua) The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia, Farouk Bouaskar, announced today (Tuesday) that 262 candidates will run in the second round of the legislative elections at the beginning of next February to compete for 131 parliamentary seats.

Bouaskar said during a press conference held today that the elections for the second round of this electoral entitlement will be held in 131 constituencies, pointing out that the total number of voters registered to participate in the second round "will be more than 7 million voters, including those registered voluntarily and automatically."

He revealed that 23 candidates among the 262 competitors in the second round of the legislative elections belong to parties, according to authorizations issued by the legal representatives of their parties that the Elections Authority had received earlier.

He explained that the parties to which these candidates belong are the Tunisia Forward Movement (one candidate), the National Youth Movement of Tunisia (3 candidates), the People's Movement (12 candidates), and the Voice of the Republic party (7 candidates).

He added that the candidates running for the second round of the legislative elections are distributed between 34 women and 228 men, noting that 170 of them are employees from the public and private sectors, 50 are self-employed and businessmen, 5 are students, and 17 are retirees.

The first round of this election took place on December 17, in which only 23 candidates won a parliamentary seat, 20 of them in constituencies at home and 3 in constituencies abroad.

The first round of this election ended with a participation rate of 11.22 percent, according to what the head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia announced, two days after the polls closed.

The majority of Tunisian parties and organizations unanimously agreed that this percentage is "weak" and reflects the Tunisian people's reluctance to hold elections, while voices were heard calling for the cancellation of the second round of legislative elections, and for going to a comprehensive national dialogue to get out of the current political crisis.

The Tunisian president rejects such calls, and he responded to them on the nineteenth of this month by accusing the opposition of fabricating crises, as he said..."This time, you did not find anything to focus on except for the participation rate in this first session to question the representation of the next Assembly of Representatives of the People, in While the participation rate is not only measured in the first round, but in the two rounds.”