Tunisia: Presidential election to be held on October 6, announces President Saied

Kais Saied, 66, who took full powers on July 25, 2021, shaking the young Tunisian democracy born from the first revolt of the “Arab Spring”, announced that the next presidential election will take place on October 6 in the country. “The President of the Republic issued a decree today, July 2, 2024, calling voters for a presidential election on Sunday, October 6, 2024,” the presidency said in a statement.

A constitutional specialist, democratically elected in October 2019, Kais Saied has seized all the powers since his coup in July 2021 when, after several months of political deadlock, he dismissed the Prime Minister and froze Parliament before dissolving it. He had a new Constitution adopted by referendum in the summer of 2022 establishing a new two-chamber system with very limited powers: the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) and a National Council of Regions and Districts. This constitutional revision has moved Tunisia from a parliamentary regime to an ultra-presidentialist system which, according to his detractors, confirms Kais Saied’s authoritarian and autocratic drift.

And since his coup, Kais Saied has been ruling the country by decree. On several occasions in recent months, the president has ordered the dismissal of various ministers and senior officials.

An election without real opposition

Since last February, around twenty opponents and personalities have been imprisoned and are “accused of plotting against state security” and Kais Saied has described them as “terrorists”. NGOs including Amnesty International have denounced “a witch hunt motivated by political considerations”.

Beyond the serious political crisis that Tunisia has been going through since Kais Saied’s coup, there are also serious economic difficulties with sluggish growth (around 2%), a rising poverty rate (4 million Tunisians out of 12 million inhabitants) and very high unemployment (15%). Tunisia is now, along with Libya, one of the main departure points for migrants who risk perilous crossings in the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of reaching Europe.

Since a xenophobic speech by President Saied in February 2023, thousands of sub-Saharan African nationals staying illegally in Tunisia have lost their homes and their jobs, most often informal.

In May, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced the “intimidation and harassment” suffered in Tunisia by lawyers and members of the media critical of the government and its migration policies.

Except that this election offers little suspense. Even if Kais Saïed has not officially confirmed whether he will be a candidate, the opposition is struggling to emerge. The Islamo-conservative Ennahda party has been greatly weakened by the ban on its activities and the arrest of several of its leaders, including its historic leader, Rached Ghannouchi, accused, among other things, of “conspiring against state security”. For the time being, the party does not plan to present a candidate in the presidential election. However, a joint candidacy could emerge from the National Salvation Front (FSN), the main opposition coalition (of which Ennahda is a part). The name of the leader of the Free Destourian Party (PDL), Abir Moussi, who has been detained since October 3, is often cited.