Protests in Tunisia against ‘rigged’ presidential election

Demonstrators gathered on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis yesterday in the second protest in a week against the course the presidential election is taking on 6 October and the rule of President Kais Saied.

The Tunisian Network for Rights and Freedoms, which includes a coalition of leftist and liberal organisations and parties, called for the protest against a draft law in parliament that limits the powers of the administrative court.

Through the draft law, which they demanded to be urgently considered, the MPs want the regular appeal courts to consider electoral disputes instead of the administrative court.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Municipal Theatre building on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, amid a heavy police presence, and chanted “farcical elections and absurd laws” and “the people want the fall of the regime.”

The Tunisian Network for Rights and Freedoms said the draft law poses a “direct threat to the role of the judiciary in preserving the integrity of the electoral process.”

The current parliament was elected in 2022, months after Saied ousted the previous parliament elected in 2019 on the pretext of fighting corruption and chaos. He later issued a new constitution that included extensive powers for the president.

The Independent High Authority for Elections is facing accusations from the opposition of paving the way for Saied to win a second term, with only two competitors in the race, one of whom is in prison on charges of fabricating endorsements from voters.

The authority had excluded three candidates despite a decision by the administrative court confirming the validity of their candidacies.

Tunisia: The elections ended before they even began