Tunisia’s president faces little challenge ahead of vote.Tunisians voting Sunday will face a sharply narrower field.
Out of 14 aspiring presidential candidates, the country’s electoral commission handpicked by current President Kais Saied approved just three. The first is in prison.
The second is considered close to Saied. The third is Saied himself.
Former Tunisian minister and election commission head Kamel Jendoubi describes a repressive climate under President Kais Saied.
“The climate today is one of repression of every form of liberty,” said Kamel Jendoubi, a former minister who headed Tunisia’s first post-revolution electoral commission. “Arrests have multiplied against the opposition. Today all the main political leaders, from the left, center and right, are in prison.”
Jendoubi’s remarks are echoed by a raft of opposition politicians, analysts and rights activists, even as Saied’s supporters praise him for overhauling a corrupt and gridlocked system. Few dispute that after five years in office, the 66-year-old leader has dramatically reshaped Tunisia’s political landscape, even as high unemployment and a struggling economy persist.
With Sunday’s vote seemingly stacked in the president’s favor, some believe a second Saied term could consolidate a return to the country’s authoritarian past. Others suggest Tunisians, notably a young, post-revolution generation, will not tolerate the loss of their fledgling democracy — especially if they judge the vote to be rigged.
Analyst Michael Ayari says there are fears the results of Tunisia’s presidential vote will be rigged.
