Tunisian President Kais Saied has been elected for a second term as he won a convincing 90.7 percent of the vote in the country’s latest presidential election, Al Jazeera reported.
The head of Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections, ISIE, on Tuesday, confirmed Saied’s victory in a televised announcement. Amidst a contentious election that opponents accuse of being unfair to them. Authorities have jailed or barred several political figures from running for office.
Tunisia, a small country in North Africa, is known as the birthplace of the revolution that launched the 2011 Arab Spring, which swept through the Arab world. It promoted a wave of democracy across Arab countries. Despite the sweeping protests and uprisings, many hail Tunisia as a relative success story of the revolution. Many other countries of the region have struggled with instability in the years since.
Some of the most powerful figures of Tunisia’s largest parties opposed to Saied have been behind bars for at least a year. These include the well-known Abir Moussi, head of the Free Constitutional Party, and Ayachi Zammel, the youthful head of the liberal Azimoun party. Zammel is serving a 12-year sentence on election-related charges. The imprisonments and restrictions have triggered protests in Tunisia, with people taking to the streets to show their disquiet at the fairness of the electoral process.
He had elected as president for the first time in 2019, until then, a professor of law. With no political background and without having taken part in campaigns. He came into politics on an anti-corruption platform promising fairness. His candidacy received strong support among young voters. However, since then Saied faced growing criticism over his authoritarian measures and the changes that he ordered to the constitution.
He has repeatedly denied all these accusations, arguing that he is fighting against a “corrupt elite” and “traitors” in Tunisia’s politics. He also justified his moves, claiming air-completion of the job of the revolution in 2011.
In his first comments since the exit polls predicted his victory, Saied said: “This is a continuity of the revolution. We will build and clean the country from corruption, traitors, and conspirators.”
Political analysts have generally labeled the current electoral cycle as unfair. Saied took to ever more hefty powers after a constitutional coup in 2021, raising many concerns over Tunisia’s democratic status.
ANI
