The "July 25 Harak' party said Wednesday it would field 15 candidates in the forthcoming local elections scheduled for December 24, despite "reservations about the electoral law". At a press conference in Tunis, Houcem Ben Ahmed, the movement's deputy secretary-general, said that "the party has left it up to its activists and supporters to participate and stand as individual candidates in the local elections". He also called for the electoral law to be changed. The "July 25 Harak has been against the principle of sponsorship from the beginning, especially with regard to the number required," he said, adding that sponsorship could "open the door to dirty political money". The Secretary General also raised the issue of the lack of public funding for local elections, saying that this "could hamper political action because it could lead to reluctance on the part of political actors". Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse