Eight out of ten Tunisians (80%) are unsatisfied with the general situation in the country, with the bulk being below the 30-year age bracket, according to a survey carried out by Sigma Al-Maghreb and published in Africanmanager.  Nearly 87% of the persons surveyed said the economic situation is very bad but 51.6% expected an economic recovery over the next twelve months. The bulk of the latter were in the 30-40-year age bracket.

The survey likely implies that local consumer demand and investor sentiment might deteriorate in the near term, few months ahead of the parliamentary elections. The reading also implies potential voter dissatisfaction with the current Ennahda Islamic ruling party’s policies. It is too soon to foresee a change of voter’s mood but the survey carries some similarities with other countries—like in Egypt—where the Muslim Brotherhood is virtually fighting for its political future.

Roughly 70% of the surveyed said the gap between the rich and the poor has widened over the past five years. Around 50% said that rising prices should be the government’s top priority while 22.5% said the government should tackle unemployment.

As to Islamic extremism in Tunisia, 70.4% of the surveyed raised concerns about the matter and 20.9% said they were not troubled. A year earlier answers were equally split over Islamic extremism, the survey showed. People in the south west and south east were said to be the most concerned with extremism while people in the regions of Sfax and the north west were less troubled.