Tunisia: Saied announces run for second presidential term
Despite a tumultuous first term and a faltering economy, Tunisian president Kais Saied has announced that he will run for a second presidential term, according to The New Arab Plus agencies.
Tunisia’s presidential election is set to take place in September or October of this year.
On the 6th of April, Saied announced his run for the presidency, pledging to “purify the country from those who have spread corruption everywhere and there will be no turning back.”
During a speech commemorating the 24th anniversary of the death of Tunisian statesman Habib Bourguiba, Saied criticised parties that boycotted legislative election “but are now rushing to the presidential elections.”
He accused unnamed parties of “seeking refuge in foreign support,” noting sarcastically that “these parties cannot run for presidential elections in Tunisia.”
Saied has faced much criticism since a coup in 2021, where protesters flocked to the streets to call an end to his authoritarian rule. Saied arrested a variety of opposition figures, critical journalists and political activists in what rights groups have called a broad and comprehensive crackdown on dissent.
READ: Hundreds of Tunisians demand release of Saied’s opponents
One of Tunisia’s most prominent critics of Saied, Chaima Issa, has said the president is building a “tyranny”. Issa was arrested in December 2023 and charged with inciting the army to disobey and “insulting the president.”
Saied and his supporters often accuse his critics of being agents of outside forces and attempting to corrupt Tunisia through migration from Africa. He is among the only non-white political leaders to embrace the white supremacist conspiracy theory that posits that migration is used by shadowy elites to “replace native populations.”
READ: Saied begins crackdown on African migrants in Tunisia
“Tunisia is waging a war of survival against those who wanted to bring down the state after January 14, 2011, to blow it up from within, to strike at its public facilities, and those who want to degrade the state’s institutions with the aim of hitting the homeland. However, Tunisian men and women have shown an unprecedented awareness of this conspiracy plotted against them”, Saied said during his speech on Saturday.
“The people know all the secrets and will confront with the same determination, will, and high spirit of patriotism anyone who wants to throw themselves into the arms of foreigners and harm independent Tunisia,” he added.
With the upcoming election, the main hope lies with Essam Chebbi, the jailed leader of the centrist liberal democratic Republican party.
The New Arab/ Agencies.
