Analysis-Dismal election turnout puts Tunisia president's legitimacy under spotlight

FILE PHOTO: A man votes at a polling station during parliamentary election in Tunis, Tunisia December 17, 2022. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

TUNIS (Reuters) - The ultra-low turnout of 8.8% in Tunisia's parliamentary election on Saturday may prove a defining moment in the struggle between President Kais Saied and a fragmented but increasingly confident opposition that accuses him of a coup.

Opposition politicians said Tunisia's lowest ever turnout stripped away any facade of democratic legitimacy for Saied's political project and called directly for his ouster.