General elections were held in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 on 2 April 1989. It was the first time presidential elections had been held since 1974

Tunisian general election, 1974

General elections were held in Tunisia on 3 November 1974 to elect a President and Chamber of Deputies. At the time the country was a one-party state with the Socialist Destourian Party as the sole legal party. Its leader, Habib Bourguiba, was the only candidate in the presidential election, and...

, as Habib Bourguiba

Habib Bourguiba

Habib Bourguiba was a Tunisian statesman, the Founder and the first President of the Republic of Tunisia from July 25, 1957 until 7 November 1987...

 had been declared President-for-life the following year. However, his replacement, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a Tunisian political figure who was the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, and he assumed the Presidency on 7 November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état that ousted President Habib Bourguiba, who was...

, was the only candidate, and was re-elected unopposed. In the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower chamber of the Parliament of Tunisia, the bicameral legislative branch of the government of Tunisia. It has 189 seats and members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. 20% of the seats are reserved for the opposition. Elections are held in the...

 election, the Constitutional Democratic Rally

Constitutional Democratic Rally

The Constitutional Democratic Rally , also referred to by its French acronym RCD, formerly called Neo Destour then Socialist Destourian Party, was the governing party in Tunisia. The party was suspended by the minister of interior on February 6th awaiting a decision on its dissolution by judicial...

 (a renamed Socialist Destourian Party

Socialist Destourian Party

The Socialist Destourian Party was the ruling political party of Tunisia from 1964 to 1988. Bahi Ladgham was the first Prime Minister from the party and Hédi Baccouche was the last. It was founded on October 22, 1964 and disbanded on February 27, 1988. Habib Bourgiba was the first president of the...

) won all 141 seats. Voter turnout was 76.5% in the parliamentary election and 76.1% in the presidential election.

President

|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
! colspan="2" align="center" | Candidates
! align="center" | Parties
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor="" |
| align="left" | Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a Tunisian political figure who was the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, and he assumed the Presidency on 7 November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état that ousted President Habib Bourguiba, who was...

| align="left" | Constitutional Democratic Rally

Constitutional Democratic Rally

The Constitutional Democratic Rally , also referred to by its French acronym RCD, formerly called Neo Destour then Socialist Destourian Party, was the governing party in Tunisia. The party was suspended by the minister of interior on February 6th awaiting a decision on its dissolution by judicial...

| 2,087,028
| 100
|-
| colspan="3" align="left" | Blank or invalid votes
| 15,348
| -
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
! colspan="3" align="left" | Total
! 2,102,351
! 100.00
|}

Chamber of Deputies

|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
! colspan="2" align="left" width="300px" | Parties
! Votes !! % !! Seats !! +/–
|-
| bgcolor="" |
| align="left" | Constitutional Democratic Rally

Constitutional Democratic Rally

The Constitutional Democratic Rally , also referred to by its French acronym RCD, formerly called Neo Destour then Socialist Destourian Party, was the governing party in Tunisia. The party was suspended by the minister of interior on February 6th awaiting a decision on its dissolution by judicial...

| 1,633,004 || 80.6 || 141 || +16
|-
| bgcolor="" |
| align="left" | Movement of Socialist Democrats

Movement of Socialist Democrats

The Movement of Social Democrats is an opposition political party in Tunisia. It was the second-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, behind the dominant Constitutional Democratic Rally, with sixteen seats....

| 76,250 || 3.8 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="" |
| align="left" | Party of People's Unity

Party of People's Unity

The Party of People's Unity is an opposition political party in Tunisia. It is socialist and had 7 members in the 1999 Tunisian parliament. At the 2004 legislative elections, the party won 3.6 % of the popular vote and 11 out of 189 seats. The same day, its candidate Mohamed Bouchiha, won 3.8 % at...

| 13,596 || 0.7 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="" |
| align="left" | Unionist Democratic Union

Unionist Democratic Union

The Unionist Democratic Union is an opposition political party in Tunisia. It has a pan-Arabist ideology, and holds nine seats in the Chamber of Deputies, making it the fourth-largest party....

| 7,912 || 0.4 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="white" |
| align="left" | Leftist Coalition
| 7,619 || 0.3 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="white" |
| align="left" | Progressive Socialist Party
| 5,720 || 0.4 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="white" |
| align="left" | Social Party for Progress
| 5,270 || 0.3 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="white" |
| align="left" | Socialist Progressive Rally
| 4,054 || 0.2 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="white" |
| align="left" | IRSP
| 1,224 || 0.1 || - || new
|-
| bgcolor="gainsboro" |
| align="left" | Independents
| 277,155 || 13.7 || - || -
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
! colspan="2" align="left" | Valid votes !! 2,041,883 !! 98.4 !! 141 || +16
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
| colspan="2" align="left" | Blank or invalid votes || 31,836 || 1.6
| rowspan="4" colspan="2" |
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
! colspan="2" align="left" | Total !! 2,073,719 !! 100.0
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
| colspan="2" align="left" | Voter turnout
| colspan="2" | 76.5
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;"
| colspan="2" align="left" | Electorate
| colspan="2" | 2,711,925
|-
| colspan="6" | Source: Nohlen et al.
|}

Aftermath

Although the elections in 1989 were the fairest elections the country has experienced until this day, its results were heavily contested.

Different sources offer ostensibly official figures that diverge significantly, most notably in respect to the share of votes received by the Ennahda Movement. Without official recognition as a party, the party fielded independent candidates that received between 10% and 17% of the vote nationally according to different "official" results quoted by different academics.

Both the legal opposition and the Ennahda Movement charged the government with electoral fraud, with the Ennahda Movement claiming to have received between 60-80% of votes. According to other analysts, the elections demonstrated the staying power of the state party RCD, which had expanded its membership in the run-up to the election to encompass nearly 40% of the registered electorate