Candidates in the local election runoff for the Ezzouhour (Cité Tayarane 1, Tunis1 constituency), Abdessalem Ajina and Abdeldayem Mhamdi, said local action is an important experiment in Tunisia to serve the interests of citizens. However, the two candidates noted a lack of clarity among voters about the difference between municipal and local action. In statements to TAP, the two candidates promised to further simplify the work of local councils and their role in the run-off, in order to encourage citizens to vote for the candidate they consider suitable to represent cité Ettayarane in the local council. Abdessalam Ajina, who won 46% of the vote in the first round, praised the overall organisation of the elections and described the process as generally good. However, he highlighted the dissatisfaction of some citizens with the uncertainty surrounding the role of local councils. He suggested increased communication with citizens to clarify the role of local councils and increase voter turnout. The candidat e, who won 250 votes in the first round, said that overall voters "accepted" his manifesto because it "addressed a range of issues in the region and how to deal with them". He stated that he would continue his programme in the second round by increasing communication with the public and further explaining the points of his programme. He pointed out that, faced with the deterioration in the quality of the services, he was standing in the local elections to resolve the crisis with a new "revolutionary" and above all participatory vision. He promised to develop and promote Sijoumi Lake, to work on improving infrastructure such as roads, pavements, sewers, schools and hospitals, and to launch projects in keeping with the nature of the region to create jobs for young people. As for his rival in the run-off, who received 156 votes in the first round (29% of the total), he regretted that the vote in the first round "was not based on programmes, but rather on the candidate's partiality, friendship and family envi ronment". He pointed out that the run-off would be relatively different, especially as this time the vote could be based on programmes, after the public had understood, albeit relatively, how local councils work, he said. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse