Tunisia Elections: Politicians engage voters through YouTube
Tunisians are set to vote on Sunday in first landmark elections since the Arab Spring. Google has partnered with Tunisia Live to offer training workshops on Google tools and social media for politicians to engage with voters.
Tunisia Live, a startup news portal, launched Tunisia Talks on YouTube where citizens ask questions to politicians. According to Google’s official Blog, so far more than 400 questions have been submitted and over 40 members of political parties and independent coalitions have taken part in the initiative.
In the upcoming elections, Tunisians will select representatives for the new Constituent Assembly, which will ratify a new constitution and appoint a new transitional government that will schedule elections for a permanent government.
These elections are not only significant to Tunisia’s political future but their success would further advance regional democratization.
Uprisings triggered by the actions of Sidi Bouzid, a unemployed Tunisian who set himself on fire to protest against joblessness, brought an end to 23-year regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.