The controversial President Kais Saied is on the verge of a clear election victory in Tunisia. Will his repressive course continue?
Tunis – In Tunisia Concern about democracy continues to grow. According to post-election polls, the incumbent Kais Saied has won the presidential election again with a clear majority. The surveys of voters after they cast their votes on Sunday showed a majority of 89.2 percent for the incumbent head of state, as national television reported in the evening. Saied, who had been ruling increasingly authoritarianly for years, had no significant competitor, so his re-election was considered a foregone conclusion.
According to the institute’s post-election surveys Sigma Conseil Saied’s only two competitors only achieved small shares of the vote: the liberal entrepreneur Ayachi Zammel received 6.9 percent, the former MP Zouhair Maghzaoui received 3.9 percent of the vote. Zammel ran from prison, where he has been held since September. He is accused of falsifying supporter votes in order to be able to run for the election. The politician faces 14 years in prison. In addition to Zammel, other, much better-known opposition politicians are either in prison or have been barred from running for office by the electoral authorities.
Tunisia with lowest voter turnout since revolution in 2011
After the publication of the post-election polls, around 400 supporters of the president celebrated his victory in the center of the capital Tunis. They shouted: “The people want Kais again. The 66-year-old Saied himself said in a speech at his campaign headquarters on Sunday evening that he wanted to “continue the 2011 revolution” and build a country cleansed of corruption and conspiracies. “Tunisia will remain free and independent and will never accept foreign interference,” he added.
According to the electoral authority, the provisional official result of the election should be published “at the latest” on Wednesday. The voter turnout at the polls was weak. According to the electoral authority, only 27.7 percent of the 9.7 million eligible voters cast their votes.
At that time, long-term ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown following mass protests. Tunisia is the birthplace of the “Arab Spring” – the former series of pro-democracy mass protests in the Arab world from the end of 2010.
Tunisia’s ruler became an increasingly authoritarian ruler
Saied was elected to office for the first time in 2019 with a majority of 73 percent. The election at that time was democratic. Since then, however, the Tunisian president has become an increasingly authoritarian ruler. In 2021 he dissolved parliament, a year later he dismissed the Supreme Council of Judges and appointed the head of the electoral authority according to his ideas.
In the summer of 2022, Saied had a referendum on a constitutional change that practically secured him the role of sole ruler. From February 2023, politicians and business people who had opposed the head of state were arrested, followed in 2024 by the arrests of well-known trade unionists, civil rights activists and journalists.
After Saied’s current re-election, critics fear that he will further intensify his repressive course. “Saied promised to get rid of traitors and enemies of Tunisia,” said political commentator Hatem Nafti. “He will use his re-election to justify even more repression.” (afp/jal)
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