Tunisia's president among three cleared to run in election
Africa
By
AFP
| Aug 11, 2024
The Tunisian election board announced Saturday that three candidates including incumbent President Kais Saied had been cleared to run in upcoming elections.
Saied, 66, was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021 and is now seeking another term in office in elections to be held on October 6.
Farouk Bouasker, president of the High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE), told a news conference that 14 other presidential hopefuls were barred from the race after "not collecting enough endorsements".
READ MORE
Vision 2030:The high price of leadership vacuum
High court suspends President Ruto's executive order placing IPOA under Interior Ministry
UN urges immediate end to fighting in eastern DR Congo
Why Kenya's carbon economy will be judged by the social contracts it builds
Ruto signs CBK Reform Law, Parliamentary Pension Bill
DRC crisis: Without Doha, the Washington accords are doomed
How illusion of replaying 2012 script is hurting peace in DRC
Kinshasa takes Rwanda to ICJ, alleging abuses in DR Congo
MPs approve Kenyan Sign Language Bill for deaf
Court awards Sh35.5m to victims of police brutality during 2023 Azimio protests
Apart from Saied, the two other candidates on the ballot are former lawmakers Zouhair Maghzaoui and Ayachi Zammel, who heads a little-known party.
Maghzaoui has come out in support of Saied's power grab.
Experts have said presidential hopefuls faced significant constraints in their bid to challenge Saied, who has faced accusations of an "authoritarian drift" and a "rollback" on freedoms from rights groups and critics.
To be listed on the ballot, candidates are required to present a list of signatures from 10,000 registered voters, with at least 500 voter signatures per constituency -- "an enormous number" according to political analyst Amine Kharrat -- or secure endorsements from lawmakers or local officials.
ISIE also required a clean criminal record.
Several would-be contenders complained of obstacles in obtaining their criminal records as well as the necessary endorsement forms.
Numerous potential candidates are behind bars, many of them over accusations of "conspiracy against the state".
As part of Saied's consolidation of power, Tunisia's constitution was rewritten in 2022 to create a presidential regime whose parliament has extremely limited powers.
More than 20 of Saied's opponents have been detained in a flurry of arrests that began in February 2023.