Saied plans new term as presidential election comes to an end – DW – October 6, 2024

Incumbent President Kais Saied was on track for a second term on Sunday evening after polls closed in Tunisia’s presidential election, which the opposition said was marred by a lack of credibility and integrity.

Serious challengers to Saied have been barred from running and one of his two rivals is in prison.

An exit poll broadcast on public television after voting ended showed that the 66-year-old Saied would win with 89.2% of the vote, according to the country’s electoral body, but with a turnout of less than 28%.

The figure is the lowest recorded in a presidential election in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution.

There will be no runoff when the results are certified early next week.

Who were the candidates for the Tunisian presidency?

Saied was running against former lawmaker Zouhair Maghzaoui, 59, who supported the president’s takeover in 2021 but then decided to run against him.

According to the election poll, Maghzaoui is only expected to receive 3.9% of the vote.

His other rival was 47-year-old Ayachi Zammel – a little-known businessman who has been in prison since his candidacy was approved by the election committee last month.

Zammel saw his popularity grow in prison, where he is serving a 14-year sentence after being accused of forging signatures to support his election candidacy.

But on election day, according to polls, he probably won around 6.9% of the vote.

The leaders of larger rival parties were also either imprisoned or excluded from participating in an electoral commission whose members were hand-picked by Saied.

Among the imprisoned opposition figures is Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha, which dominated political life after the revolution.

Also in prison is Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Destourian Party, who is accused of trying to bring back the regime that was overthrown in 2011.

Shortly before the vote, an independent court was also stripped of its power to decide on electoral disputes.

Short dance with democracy

Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolution and was for a time seen as an example of a successful transition to democracy after years of authoritarian rule by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown in 2011.

But Saied, who came to power in a landslide election in 2019, closed parliament and rewrote the constitution, sending Tunisia back to its autocratic past.

Human Rights Watch said more than 170 people were detained for “political reasons or for exercising their basic rights.”

While Saied’s victory appears to be a foregone conclusion, the president has rejected claims that he is dismantling Tunisian democracy, instead accusing his opponents of being traitors.

We are in an economic crisis

During his five years in office, he struggled to resolve the country’s economic problems, which have led to shortages of subsidized goods as well as water and power outages, high unemployment and high inflation.

Given the high level of national debt, Saied appears unwilling to accept unpopular spending cuts that would allow him to borrow from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The country is getting by on tourism recovery and EU aid in return for a crackdown on migration.

mm, ab/rm (Reuters, AFP)