The Tunisian election campaign (parliamentary and presidential) has got under way in customary fashion. Magharebia has the details:

• President Ben Ali delivered a speech to thousands of supporters. He outlined his platform and promised fairness in this year's elections.

• Parties began placing posters, manifestos and pictures of candidates "in locations set aside for electoral materials". However, "some of the spaces designated for party materials remained empty, either because some parties found the locations inaccessible or because their manifestos and pictures of candidates were confiscated".

• The Progressive Democratic Party announced it was pulling out of the parliamentary elections because of a "lack of the necessary requirements for participation".

• Authorities confiscated the latest edition of the Ettajdid Movement's newspaper because "it included manifestos that were published without completing the necessary legal submission procedures".

Voting is on October 25. No prizes for guessing who will win.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 14 October 2009.