Official: Tunisia assembly must set election date

The head of Tunisia’s electoral commission has urged the assembly to hurry up and set a date for upcoming elections.

New elections have been promised before the end of the year, but the parties in the assembly can’t agree whether the presidential and legislative elections should occur simultaneously or separately.

Commission head Chafik Sarsar said Tuesday it will take six to eight months to organize elections, noting the need to enroll the 4 million people eligible to vote but not registered.

Some 3. 5 million Tunisians voted in landmark elections in October 2011, some nine months after the country’s long-ruling dictator was overthrown.

The Islamist Ennahda Party dominated polls and ruled for two years before stepping down in favor of an interim government following a political crisis with the opposition.