By Nayress Ben Gaga

TUNIS 

Kalthoum Kannou, the only woman running in Tunisia's upcoming presidential elections, says that Tunisians "must support women's participation in elections."

Kannou, 55, said in an interview with Anadolu Agency that her entry into the presidential race – which requires at 19,000 signatures by male and female Tunisian citizens – was "proof that Tunisian society is progressive enough to accept the idea that a woman can be president."

Kannou, who was elected head of the Tunisian Association of Judges one year ago, had been blacklisted by the regime of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Bin Ali due to her record of promoting judicial independence under his rule.

In mid-July, she announced her intention to run for Tunisia's momentous presidential elections, slated for November 23.

Her motivation, she said, was a recent initiative by Tunisia's Ennahda Islamist party that called on political parties to agree on a single presidential candidate.

"I saw that this initiative posed a threat to democracy in Tunisia, as it would force people to accept choices made for them by political parties," Kannou said.

"So I decided to run for president in order to pass on a message that Tunisia will never revert to totalitarianism or patriarchy," she added.

She said her campaign was funded by her own personal pension and donations by supporters.

"I believe austerity should be applied in all presidential campaigns in Tunisia since they should take into account the country's dire economic problems," she said.

Kannou expressed optimism regarding women's potential to win seats in upcoming parliamentary polls, slated to kick off on October 26.

"No vote is more effective than a vote given to a woman candidate," Kannou said. "It carries the strongest message we can send, both internally and abroad."

Kannou asserted that she never faced any incidents of discrimination for being a woman during her presidential rallies.

However, she criticized media outlets in Tunisia for "not focusing on independent candidates" like herself.

"The electoral commission… should intervene to prevent media practices that violate electoral laws," she said.

"In some cases, there is a total lack of balance in media coverage of party-affiliated candidates, as opposed to independent ones, in both legislative and presidential elections."

Tunisia, the birthplace of the "Arab Spring" uprisings, has about 5.2 million eligible voters.

Starting Sunday, they will cast ballots for some 13,000 candidates who are vying for seats in the 217-member National Assembly.

In November, they will vote to elect the country's second president since Ben Ali's ouster in 2011.

There are 190 political parties in Tunisia, most of which emerged in the wake of the 2011 uprising.

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