A Tunisian court on Monday sentenced four potential presidential election candidates to eight months in prison and banned them from running for office on charges of vote-buying, a move seen by critics as an attempt to eliminate serious competitors to President Kais Saied. The ruling, which affects prominent politician Abdel Latif Mekki, activist Nizar Chaari, Judge Mourad Massoudi, and another candidate, Adel Dou, has heightened concerns among opposition parties, candidates, and human rights groups about the use of arbitrary restrictions and intimidation to ensure Saied’s re-election in the October 6 vote.
Ahmed Nafatti, the manager of Mekki’s campaign, condemned the decision as unfair and an attempt to exclude serious players from the race. Despite the ruling, Mekki’s campaign plans to submit his candidacy papers. Chaari also criticised the verdict, calling it a shocking attempt to prevent them from running after a series of restrictions.
In a related development, a separate court sentenced prominent Saied opponent Abir Moussi to two years in prison on charges of insulting the election commission. Last month, another potential candidate, Lotfi Mraihi, was sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from running in the presidential elections on similar vote-buying charges.
President Saied, elected in 2019, dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, a move the opposition described as a coup. Opposition parties, many of whose leaders are imprisoned, accuse Saied’s government of pressuring the judiciary to target his rivals in the 2024 elections to secure a second term. Saied has denied these accusations, insisting there are no restrictions on potential candidates.
Additionally, at least four other prominent potential candidates reported a new restriction requiring them to submit their police records to register, which the interior ministry has refused to provide. They accuse authorities of trying to revert Tunisia to the era of dictatorship and sham elections that preceded the 2011 revolution. The interior ministry has not commented on these allegations.
Melissa Enoch
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