Tunisia: electoral body rejects reinstatement of candidates in presidential race

Tunisia’s electoral commission rejected on Monday an administrative court ruling reinstating three presidential election candidates, Reuters has reported. The move reinforced opposition fears that the commission seeks to favour incumbent President Kais Saied.

Defying the highest judicial body, the commission approved only the candidacies of Saied and two others, Zouhair Magzhaoui and Ayachi Zammel, for the election on 6 October. The election campaign will start on 14 September, said the commission.

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.

According to Tunisian constitutional law professors, the election commission must implement the administrative court’s decision as it stands, or the elections will completely lose credibility.

READ: HRW calls on Tunisia to stop its ‘political interference’ in presidential election