Tunisian police arrest presidential candidates as tensions rise ahead of elections – ThePrint – ReutersFeed

By Tarek Amara
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian police arrested presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel on Monday, a member of his campaign team told Reuters, amid growing fears among human rights groups and the opposition that prominent rivals of President Kais Saied could be barred from the race.

The electoral commission is preparing to announce on Monday the final list of approved candidates for the presidential election scheduled for October 6.

There was initially no comment from the Election Commission and the Interior Ministry.

Last week, the Administrative Court, the highest court that rules on electoral disputes, allowed three prominent candidates – Mondher Znaidi, AbdelLatif Mekki and Imed Daimi – to re-enter the race after the electoral commission rejected their candidacies.

They joined the accepted candidates Ayachi Zammel, Zouhair Maghzaoui and Saied, the current president.

However, Electoral Commission Chairman Farouk Bouasker said the commission would examine the administrative court's decision and other court rulings against candidates before issuing the final list.

Bouasker's stance sparked great anger among human rights groups and politicians, who feared that the statement was a clear signal for the exclusion of the three candidates from the race.

They said the commission was no longer independent and its only goal was to ensure an easy victory for Saied. The commission denies these allegations and claims to be neutral.

Tunisian constitutional law professors said the electoral commission must implement the administrative court's decision unchanged, otherwise the election would completely lose its credibility.

Political parties and human rights groups issued a joint statement calling for a protest rally near the polling station on Monday to demand the implementation of the court decision reinstating the candidates and an end to “arbitrary restrictions” and intimidation.

Saied, who dissolved parliament in 2021 and seized control of all power in what the opposition called a coup, said last year: “He would not hand over the country to non-patriots.”

(Reporting by Tarek Amara, editing by Timothy Heritage)

Disclaimer: This report is auto-generated by Reuters. ThePrint takes no responsibility for its content.