Tunisian President Saied says he will seek re-election in October | Election News

As the president seeks a new term, critics say credible elections cannot be held unless jailed opposition politicians are released.

Tunisian President Kais Saied has said he will seek a new five-year term in elections scheduled for October.

Saied’s announcement comes as the opposition asserts that fair and credible elections cannot be held unless jailed politicians are released and the media can do their work without pressure from the government.

“I officially announce my candidacy for the October 6 presidential elections in order to continue the fight in the battle for national liberation,” Saied, who has governed by decree since the suspension of parliament in July 2021, said on Friday in a video released by his office.

Speaking from the southern region of Tataouine, the 66-year-old said he was responding to the “sacred calling of the country” which left him no choice but to run for a second term.

In July, Saied called the presidential vote for October 6.

Several potential opponents who announced their candidacy are in prison or being prosecuted.

In his announcement, Saied appealed “to everyone preparing to sponsor [candidates] to ward off any corruption.”

Lotfi Mraihi, head of the opposition Republican Union party, received an eight-month sentence on Friday on charges of vote buying and a lifetime ban from running for president, Tunisian media reported.

Among Saied’s most prominent critics, Mraihi was arrested in July on suspicion of money laundering.

Repression of political opposition

Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party and prominent candidate, has been in prison since last year on charges of harming public security.

Moussi’s party said she was arrested to remove her from the presidential race, a claim denied by authorities.

Other candidates – including Safi Saeed, Nizar Chaari and Abd Ellatif Mekki – face legal action over charges including fraud and money laundering.

Issam Chebbi, leader of the main opposition National Salvation Front, who was arrested in February 2023 for “conspiring against the state”, withdrew from the race on Thursday, his party said.

Rached Ghannouchi, a prominent opposition leader and former speaker of parliament, has been imprisoned since April 2023 on charges that his Ennahdha party received foreign contributions, which he and his supporters consider unfounded.

Amnesty International said this week that Tunisian authorities had “intensified repression against the political opposition”.

Saied, a former constitutional law professor, was elected to office in 2019 as an anti-establishment advocate who promised to root out corruption.