Tunisia’s election committee to double in size to address complaints that its is not fully representative

A commission tasked with building Tunisia's nascent democracy will nearly double in size to address complaints that it is not fully representative, the body's chairman Yad Ben Achour said Saturday.

Following the commission's second closed-door meeting since its creation in January after the ouster of former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, Ben Achour said the commission will grow from around 70 to 130 members.

The body is tasked with drafting an electoral code by the end of the month and a new constitution that will be presented to a constituent assembly to be elected in June ahead of democratic elections in July. It includes representatives of political parties, civil society and experts in constitutional law.

Ben Achour promised that Tunisians of all persuasions would be represented in the expanded commission. "It will include everyone - leftists, nationalists, Arabists," he said.

Replying to accusations of "infiltration" by people with links to the 23-year Ben Ali regime, Ben Achour said that anyone who had signed a petition for the strongman's reelection in 2014 would be excluded.