Béji Caïd Essebsi Independent Hamadi Jebali Ennahda Member State of the African Union An election for a constituent assembly in Tunisia was announced on 3 March 2011[2] and held on 23 October 2011,[3] following the Tunisian revolution.

France, Tunisia's former colonial ruler, elected ten representatives; Italy three; Germany one; North America and the rest of Europe two; and other Arab states two.

[12] In the United States, where an estimated 14,500 Tunisian citizens live, polling took place in Washington, D.C., New York City, Miami, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Secularists were also alarmed at violent protests by religious conservatives against the broadcast of the film Persepolis (which depicted God, something considered blasphemous in Islam) by Nessma TV.

Others alleged that the pro-business PDP and smaller UPL (founded by a Libyan businessman born in Tunisia) had themselves received unfair funding, as they had the support of the rich native business community.

There were more than 10,000 domestic and 500 international observers for the election, some members of delegations from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Union and the Carter Center.

[25] A poll released by Sigma on 10 September showed that 57% of respondents agreed with a referendum that could set a limit on the duration of the Assembly's mandate, while 18.6% were against; 24.3% did not know.

[35] On 22 May 2011, the head of the country's independent electoral body Kamel Jendoubi suggested a delay to 16 October 2011, but this was rejected vehemently by the government, and very few of the political parties running in the election were in favour of the postponement.

[36] Jendoubi insisted on the delay, stating that he needed more time to prepare electoral lists and renew over 400,000 old identity cards, but the final decision would rest with the interim president.

[40] In September, the government of Canada declared that it would not allow Tunisia to open polling stations in its territory because it refused to be included in another country's electoral constituency.

[41] In response to Canada's opposition, Tunisia threatened to refuse to allow Canadian observers to monitor the election,[42] but later reversed its decision and decided to accredit them.

[46] After Kemal Jendoubi, the head of the Electoral Commission, announced the result,[47] Ennahda claimed victory in the polls[48] amidst expectations of getting about 40% of the vote, which would account for 24 of the 27 districts, according to Samir Dilou.

[51] Ennahda's Rachid Ghannouchi said after the victory announcement: "We salute Sidi Bouzid and its sons who launched the spark and we hope that God will have made Mohamed Bouazizi a martyr.

[54] In reaction, the party's supporters set fire to the mayor's office and a court in Sidi Bouzid and more than 2,000 protesters congregated outside Ennahda's headquarters in the same town and pelted stones at security forces.

The Administrative Court accepted, on Tuesday, the appeals filed by Aridha in the districts of Sidi Bouzid, Sfax-1, Jendouba, Kasserine and Tataouine.

[47] Aridha Chaabia's surprise success[58] was linked to its populist rhetoric and its party leader Mohamed Hechmi Hamdi being the only prominent politician not from the coastal regions (he was born in Sidi Bouzid).

Ettatakol stated that it would not nominate Ben Jafar for the position of prime minister, but was still not sure whether to participate in a coalition government[63] with Ennahda and CPR.

Hamadi Jbeli said that talks had already begun on forming a coalition government with the priority agenda being to revive the national economy after the revolution.