Tunisia holds a presidential election Sunday with no actual opposition to incumbent Kais Saied, broadly tipped to win as his most outstanding critics, together with a key contender, are behind bars.
Three years after a sweeping energy seize by Saied, the election is seen as a closing chapter in Tunisia’s experiment with democracy.
The North African nation had prided itself for greater than a decade for being the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings in opposition to dictatorship.
Polling stations open at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and shut at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT). Preliminary outcomes ought to come no later than Wednesday however could also be identified earlier, in accordance with ISIE, the electoral board.
Within the lead-up to polling day, there have been no marketing campaign rallies or public debates — and almost the entire marketing campaign posters in metropolis streets have been of Saied.
With little hope for change in a rustic mired in financial disaster, the temper amongst a lot of the voters has been considered one of resignation.
“Now we have nothing to do with politics,” Mohamed, a 22-year-old who gave solely his first title for concern of retribution, informed AFP in Tunis.
Neither he nor his pals deliberate to vote, he mentioned, as a result of they believed it was “ineffective”.
After rising to energy in a landslide in 2019, Saied, now 66, led a sweeping energy seize that noticed him rewrite the structure.
A burgeoning crackdown on dissent ensued, and quite a few Saied’s critics throughout the political spectrum have been jailed, sparking criticism each at dwelling and overseas.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has mentioned that greater than “170 individuals are detained in Tunisia on political grounds or for exercising their basic rights”.
Jailed opposition figures embrace 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 Get together, which critics accuse of eager to carry again the regime that was ousted in 2011.
– Little enthusiasm –
ISIE mentioned about 9.7 million individuals are anticipated to end up, however the close to certainty of a Saied win and the nation’s mounting hardships have impressed little to no eagerness to vote.
The Worldwide Disaster Group suppose tank mentioned on Friday that “the president’s nationalist discourse and financial hardship” have “corroded any enthusiasm bizarre residents may need felt in regards to the election”.
“Many concern {that a} new mandate for Saied will solely deepen the nation’s socio-economic woes, in addition to hasten the regime’s authoritarian drift,” it mentioned.
Voters are being offered with virtually no different after ISIE barred 14 hopefuls from standing within the race, citing inadequate endorsements amongst different technicalities.
A whole lot of individuals protested within the capital on Friday, marching alongside a closely policed Habib Bourguiba Avenue as some demonstrators bore indicators denouncing Saied as a “Pharaoh manipulating the legislation”.
Standing in opposition to him Sunday are former lawmaker Zouhair Maghzaoui, a supporter of the ability seize Saied staged in 2021, and Ayachi Zammel, a little-known businessman who has been in jail since his bid was authorized by ISIE final month.
Zammel at the moment faces greater than 14 years in jail on accusations of getting cast endorsement signatures to allow him to face within the election.
In a speech on Thursday, Saied known as for a “huge turnout to vote” and usher in what he known as an period of “reconstruction”.
He cited “a protracted conflict in opposition to conspiratorial forces linked to overseas circles”, accusing them of “infiltrating many public companies and disrupting lots of of tasks” below his tenure.
The Worldwide Disaster Group mentioned that whereas Saied “enjoys important assist among the many working lessons, he has been criticised for failing to resolve the nation’s deep financial disaster”.