Nov 26 proposed as date for Tunisia local polls

The body in charge of organising elections in Tunisia on Tuesday proposed November 26 as the date for holding the first municipal polls since the country's 2011 revolution.

"It is still possible to hold the elections in 2017," said the president of the electoral body, Chafik Sarsar, at a meeting with Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and party officials.

He proposed November 26, a date which he said could be delayed until the first half of December, while calling for the timing to be decided this week.

It could even be pushed back to March 2018, he said.

But Sarsar warned that delays could be "a bad sign for Tunisia", whose revolution toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and signal "an incapacity to move forward with the democratic transition".

Chahed said it was "necessary for the elections to take place in 2017", but the different party officials disagreed on a date at Tuesday's meeting.