Are Tunisian Authorities Trying to Silence Opposition Ahead of Elections?
Critics have accused President Kais Saied of heavily tilting the upcoming vote in his favor, even though he’s already made himself the country’s de facto ruler.
Update: This story has been updated with the most current information as of September 27 at 7:00 p.m. GMT+1.
A small crowd of protesters gathered outside Tunisia’s parliament building earlier today, in a demonstration against a proposed bill that would strip the Administrative Court of its authority to rule on electoral matters. Members of the legislative body sat to debate the bill, nine days before the presidential election, and observers expect it to pass, as incumbent President Kais Saeid seemingly continues to monopolize power.
After sacking the former parliament and adopting a new constitution as part of a self-coup in 2021, Saeid, a former constitutional law professor, called for fresh parliamentary elections in 2022. The voter turnout was 11 percent. Due to the circumstances of their path to office, the current parliament is viewed as a rubber stamp agency for Saied’s decisions. If passed, the proposed bill will lessen the power of the Administrative Court, which is widely believed to be the only part of Tunisia’s judiciary still operating independently of the president’s autocratic regime.
Earlier this month, Tunisia’s electoral body, the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), rejected the Administrative Court’s order to reinstate three presidential candidates. In the coming polls on October 6, ISIE only approved Saied, Zouhair Magzhaoui and Ayachi Zammel.
But on Wednesday, Zammel was sentenced to six months in prison by the Criminal Chamber of the Jendouba Court of First Instance for falsifying personal documents. This came a week after he had been convicted of falsifying his endorsement documents and sentenced to 20 months in prison.
“It is another unjust ruling and a farce that clearly aims to weaken him in the election race, but we will defend his right to the last minute,” Zammel’s lawyer, Abdessattar Massoudi, said after Wednesday’s ruling.
Zammel, a businessman, was initially arrested in Tunis on September 2 on charges of paying bribes to influence voters. He was to be provisionally released four days later, but he was rearrested on similar charges as he was preparing to leave detention, before he was taken to Jendouba where his trials have since taken place.
The convictions handed to Zammel, as well as the arrest of dozens of members of the opposition party, Ennahda, mere days to the elections, strengthens criticism that President Saied is heavily tilting the upcoming vote in his favor, even as he’s already made most of the country’s democratic institutions into his personal tools.
Saeid has been establishing himself as the country’s de-facto ruler since the 2021 self-coup, weaponizing racism and persecuting dissent. According to the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, more than 60 critical voices have been prosecuted under a Cybercrime Decree-Law no. 2022-54 enacted by Saeid to combat “false news.”
Amnesty International has called the ongoing political situation “a clear pre-election assault on the pillars of human rights and the rule of law,” adding that the country’s authorities were “failing to uphold the country’s international human rights obligations and undermining the fundamental principles of justice and fairness.”
Before the approval of candidates for the election, several potential contenders were also already being prosecuted or already in prison. Early last month, Abir Moussi of the Free Constitutional Party was sentenced to two years in prison under the cybercrime decree. Until now, she was the latest in a long line of opposition leaders who have been sentenced in Tunisia ahead of the elections. Moussi was also arrested last October for criticizing the electoral process, citing a lack of transparency, to which the ISIE submitted complaints that led to the opposition leader’s arrest.
Prominent politician Abdel Latif Mekki and media personality Nizar Chaari were among four people sentenced to prison on charges of vote buying and signature forgery in early August. In July, the president of the Republican People’s Union party, Lotfi Mraihi, was given an eight-month prison sentence and banned from contesting elections for life, on charges of vote buying and money laundering, and was also prosecuted under the cybercrimes decree. Mraihi, one of the strongest opponents if he were to contest, is appealing the verdict ahead of the elections.
Speaking to the media after filing his candidacy in August, Saied denounced criticism that his government is suppressing freedom of speech and going after dissenting voices. “I did not oppress anyone, and the law applies to everyone equally,” he said. “I am here as a citizen to run for office.”
Over the course of 2024, 20 African countries will be holding elections. For more election coverage, check out our Election Tracker.
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