Tunisia’s incumbent President Kais Saied is about to win the nation’s presidential election with 89.2 p.c help regardless of a low turnout, in response to exit polls broadcast on nationwide tv Sunday after polls closed.
Saied, 66, is anticipated to win by a landslide, routing his challengers — imprisoned rival Ayachi Zammel, who was set to gather 6.9 p.c of the vote, and Zouhair Maghzaoui, with 3.9 p.c, mentioned impartial polling group Sigma Conseil.
Three years after Saied staged a sweeping energy seize, rights teams concern re-election will solely additional entrench his rule within the nation, the one democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.
With the ouster of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia prided itself on being the birthplace of these regional revolts towards authoritarianism.
However the north African nation’s path modified dramatically quickly after Saied’s election in 2019.
The Tunisian electoral board, ISIE, has mentioned about 9.7 million folks have been eligible to vote, in a rustic whose inhabitants is round 12 million.
Solely 27.7 p.c of voters turned out to solid their ballots, it mentioned. Over 58 p.c have been males, and 65 p.c aged between 36 and 60.
“The vote’s legitimacy is undoubtedly tainted with candidates who may have overshadowed (Saied) being systematically sidelined,” mentioned Hatem Nafti, a political commentator and writer of a forthcoming e book on the present president’s authoritarian rule.
ISIE had barred 14 candidates from becoming a member of the race, citing inadequate endorsements, amongst different technicalities.
Talking at his marketing campaign’s workplace within the capital, Saied warned of “overseas interference” and pledged to “construct our nation and we are going to rid it of the corrupt and conspirators”.
“The outcomes introduced by the exit polls are very near actuality,” he instructed nationwide tv. “We are going to watch for the official outcomes.”
The board is about to announce the preliminary election outcomes on Monday.
– ‘Weak legitimacy’ –
This yr’s turnout determine in comparison with 45 p.c in 2019 and is the bottom the nation has recorded in a presidential vote since its 2011 revolution.
The vote’s “democratic legitimacy is certainly weak, however there isn’t a minimal threshold,” mentioned north Africa analyst Pierre Vermeren. “The vast majority of Tunisians let it occur.”
Hosni Abidi, 40, mentioned he feared fraud after the electoral board additionally barred two native impartial watchdogs from monitoring the vote.
“I do not need folks to decide on for me,” he mentioned. “I need to verify the field for my candidate myself.”
Saied solid his vote alongside his spouse within the prosperous Ennasr neighbourhood, north of Tunis, within the morning.
Shortly after the exit polls have been introduced, tons of of supporters took to the road celebrating his anticipated win.
“I’m satisfied by his concepts and his politics,” mentioned Oumayma Dhouib, 25.
Saied’s 2021 energy seize noticed him rewrite the structure and crackdown on dissent, sparking criticism at dwelling and overseas.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has mentioned greater than “170 individuals are detained in Tunisia on political grounds or for exercising their basic rights”.
His prime challenger, Zammel, presently faces greater than 14 years in jail, accused of getting solid endorsement signatures to allow him to face within the election.
Different jailed figures embody Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist-inspired opposition occasion Ennahdha, which dominated political life after the revolution.
Additionally detained is Abir Moussi, head of the Free Destourian Celebration, which critics accuse of desirous to deliver again the regime that was ousted in 2011.
– ‘Pharaoh manipulating the legislation’ –
In a speech on Thursday, Saied known as for a “huge turnout” to usher in what he known as an period of “reconstruction”.
He cited “an extended battle towards conspiratorial forces linked to overseas circles”, accusing them of “infiltrating many public companies and disrupting tons of of initiatives” beneath his tenure.
Worldwide Disaster Group has mentioned that whereas Saied “enjoys vital help among the many working courses, he has been criticised for failing to resolve the nation’s deep financial disaster”.
“Many concern {that a} new mandate for Saied will solely deepen the nation’s socioeconomic woes, in addition to hasten the regime’s authoritarian drift,” the assume tank mentioned.
Wajd Harrar, a 22-year-old scholar, mentioned that in 2019, whereas she was too younger to vote, “folks had chosen a nasty president”.
This time, she mentioned, “I’ve the fitting to vote and I’ll give my vote to the least dangerous candidate.”
On Friday, tons of of individuals protested within the capital, some holding indicators denouncing Saied as a “Pharaoh manipulating the legislation”.
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