Tunisia: Saied continues crackdown on opposition
With Tunisia’s Presidential election two months away, a hopeful candidate’s team was arrested by the police on July 28th, hours before candidacies’ submissions opened amidst incumbent President Kais Saied’s ongoing crackdown on opposition, reports the New Arab and agencies.
Potential candidate and Tunisian journalist Nacheet Azzouz posted on Facebook that “volunteers collecting nomination endorsements on my behalf were harassed, and the forms they had were confiscated by security officers.”
“They were detained and then released at four o’clock in the morning,” said Azzouz, who did not reveal the reasons behind the arrest.
The presidential hopeful has called on the Tunisian Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE) to investigate the arrest, but the organisation has not yet commented on the alleged incident.
Nacheet Azzouz, a Tunisian entrepreneur and frequent presenter on local radio and television, is one of approximately 80 candidates who have obtained candidacy forms from the electoral authority.
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In order to be legible for the Presidential ballot, candidates must obtain the signatures of ten members of parliament or ten representatives from the House of Regions and Districts or be endorsed by 40 local council presidents or 10,000 citizens.
Kapitalis, a local media outlet, published an article outlining the worries and concerns of Azzouz’s colleagues over the decision to run for the Presidency amidst the hostile environment for all oppositional candidates.
“What got into him? (…) He may believe he can do better than all the presidents who have led the country in the past 70 years. In any case, it will be difficult for him to do worse,” read the article.
With the election set for October 6th, President Saied’s strongest opponents have either been imprisoned, facing trial or disqualified under new candidacy rules. The electoral commission, however, has maintained that the strict rules of the election ensure the transparency and integrity of the process.
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Kais Saeid won the 2019 elections with 72.71% of the vote in the second round on a platform of combatting corruption and reforming the electoral system. However, in July 2021, he shut down the elected parliament and moved to rule by decree.
Saied has continued to seize more power over Tunisia, by assuming authority over the judiciary in June 2022 and consequently clamping down on opposition. By early 2023, those critical of his rule were arrested for “plotting against state security”.
With most opposition parties boycotting the upcoming election, the once widely admired 66-year-old populist leader is expected to win the Presidency for a second time despite ardent public criticism.
Wissam Saghir, a spokesperson for the opposition Republican party, told New Arab reporters, “There is no competitive environment and no indications of free elections; instead, power is in the hands of one person”.
The New Arab and agencies
