Tunisia’s electoral commission rejected on Monday an administrative court ruling reinstating three presidential election candidates, reinforcing opposition fears that the commission sought to favour incumbent leader Kais Saied.
Defying the highest judicial body, the commission approved only the candidacies of President Saied and two others, Zouhair Magzhaoui and Ayachi Zammel, for the October 6 contest. The electoral campaign will start on September 14, the commission said.
The decision could shake the credibility of the vote and will deepen a political crisis that has been escalating since 2021, when Saied tightened his grip on all powers and began ruling by decree in a move the opposition describes as a coup.
Last week, the administrative court, the highest judicial body that adjudicates electoral disputes, reinstated three prominent candidates, Mondher Znaidi, AbdelLatif Mekki and Imed Daimi, to the election race after the electoral commission had rejected their candidacy filing.
Tunisian constitutional law professors have said the election commission must implement the administrative court’s decision as is, or the elections will completely lose credibility.
Political parties and human rights groups called in a join statement for a protest on Monday near the election headquarters to demand implementation of the court’s decision to reinstate the candidates and stop “arbitrary restrictions” and intimidation.
Tunisian police arrested presidential candidate Zammel on Monday, a member of his campaign said, amid growing fears among rights groups.
Mahdi Abdel Jawad said police arrested Zammel at his home at about 3am on suspicion of falsifying popular endorsements and added that “the matter has become absurd and aims to exclude him from the election”.
The electoral commission and the interior ministry did not immediately comment.