Tunisia votes with opposition behind bars, Saied faces re-election

Tunisians cast their votes in a presidential election on Sunday. Incumbent Kai’s Saied is expected to secure another five years in office while his main critics remain behind bars.

Three years after Saied staged a sweeping takeover of power, the elections are seen as the final chapter in Tunisia’s democratic experiment. For more than a decade, the North African country prided itself on being the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarianism.

The ISIE electoral board said about 9.7 million people were expected. About 47 percent of them are between 36 and 60 years old.

A group of mostly older men were seen lining up to vote at a polling station in central Tunis.

“I came to support Kai’s Saied,” said 69-year-old Nouri Masmoudi. “My whole family will vote for him.”

Fadhila, 66, said she voted “in response to those who called for a boycott.”