Tunisia prepares for elections

Voting is underway in Tunisia where a 161 deputies in a reformed lower house of parliament are being elected. Opposition parties are boycotting the vote, saying President Kais Saied has stripped the new chamber of any independent authority. The vote comes as Tunisians suffer food shortages and dire economic conditions. Mr Saied dissolved the previous parliament in July last year, after months of political stalemate.

Also in the programme: botched executions in America; and George Orwell’s 1984 becomes popular in Russia.

Joining Julian Worricker to discuss these and other stories are Shiva Rahbaran, an Iranian-born writer and researcher who focusses on issues of freedom and art; and Peter Tatchell, a UK-based human rights and democracy campaigner.

(Photo: An election worker dips a voter’s finger in ink at a polling station during parliamentary election in Tunis, Tunisia December 17, 2022. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi)