A second round of elections would cause chaos and should be postponed following record-low turnout in parliamentary voting last week, the powerful UGTT union has claimed, saying the resulting parliament would have no legitimacy.
Only 11.2 percent of the country’s eligible voters participated in the election last week, sparking widespread criticism from the opposition, which said that President Kais Saied should step down and pledged mass protests.
The UGTT union, with more than a million members, has previously paralyzed the economy with its strikes.

CAIRO; The chairman of Egypt’s Suez Canal has affirmed the waterway is “not for sale,” in a bid to allay fears over a draft law under discussion in parliament.
On Tuesday, the legislature approved in principle a bill proposed by the government seeking to establish a sovereign wealth fund “that can carry out all economic and investment activities” for the Suez Canal Authority.
The draft bill has sparked wide debate on social media.

NEW YORK: A Jordanian human rights expert working for the United Nations has called on Libyan authorities to take urgent action to protect women and girls in the country from what she called a “continuous cycle of rampant violence and mistreatment,” compounded by “complete impunity” for those responsible.
The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Reem Alsalem, said on Friday that she was “deeply disturbed at the widespread, systematic, and grave levels of violence faced by Libyan women and children, including girls.

TUNIS: Supporters of the Tunisian Islamist movement Ennahda demonstrated on Friday in front of the Justice Ministry in the capital to denounce the arrest of one of its senior leaders, suspected of being involved in sending Tunisians to fight with extremists in Syria.
Protesters demanded the release of former Prime Minister Ali Larayedh, vice president of Ennahda, saying the arrest earlier this week was politically motivated. They called it part of efforts by President Kais Saied to marginalize the popular movement and distract the public from his political troubles.

ABU DHABI: The UAE Public Prosecution has ordered the arrest of a private-company director found to have faked the employment of Emirati citizens.
The suspect allegedly forged e-documents, faked employment contracts, and falsely stated that his company had hired Emirati citizens, the Emirates News Agency reported on Friday.
It was claimed he intended to obtain the benefits and financial support provided by the Nafis (a UAE private-sector jobs initiative) and various Emiratization programs.