Kais Saied officially launches campaign for Tunisia’s presidential election

Posted on August 5, 2024

Lecture: 1 minute.

President of Tunisia Kais SaidTrump, who has been in power since 2019 and is accused by critics of having authoritarian tendencies, formally filed his candidacy for public office on August 5.Presidential election scheduled for 6 OctoberKais Saied, 66, told reporters in Tunis that his candidacy was part of a “war of liberation and self-determination” aimed at “building a new republic.”

president monopoly He has held all power since the July 2021 coup, when he sacked the prime minister and froze, then dissolved, parliament after months of political blockade.

according to Experts, For potential rivals to President Saied, who was democratically elected in 2019, the road to the presidential election is doomed to be paved with pitfalls.

Control and the “monopoly of public space”

Acceptance criteria are strict: it is necessary this Sponsorship of 10 councillors or 40 local authority chairmen (mostly acquired by Kais Said) or 10,000 voters with at least 500 signatures per constituency, Clostridium difficile According to experts, it is necessary to collect.

But the president denied seeking to tighten those standards. “The law applies equally to everyone. Anyone who talks about restrictions is of “We will not accept any foreign interference in the choices of our people,” he added.

Two days later, his candidacy was filed through his lawyerAbir Musi criticism Viciousness from the President Imprisoned since October.

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In the summer of 2022, Kaïs Saïed approved a new constitution in a referendum that established a new two-chamber system in parliament. that power Very limited, through Tunisia From parliamentary system to super presidential system.

Last week, about 30 non-governmental organizations, including the Tunisian Human Rights League, condemned the “arbitrary arrests” of candidates, the electoral body “lost its independence” and “monopolized the public space”, “using state resources to favor candidates and undermine their interests” of others”.

(AFP)