Tunisian autocrat puts potential rivals in jail ahead of presidential elections

Tunisia’s authoritarian leader kais Saied is paving the way for his re-election by sending his rivals to jail under bogus charges.

The manipulation of the judiciary is the most recent episode in a process of power consolidation by Saied who has destroyed the country’s checks and balances, gearing Tunisia to its pre-Arab Spring authoritarianism.

On Monday, four potential candidates were indicted on the charge of vote buying- which they denied. They are Abdel Latif Mekki, activist Nizar Chaari, Judge Mourad Massoudi, and another candidate, Adel Dou.

All the four politicians had voiced their intention to run for the presidential elections.

Potential candidate, Abir Moussi, also a prominent opponent of Saied, has been sentenced the same day to two years in prison, on a charge of insulting the election commission.

Last month, a court in Tunis handed an eight-month prison sentence to leader of the Republican Union Party Lotfi Mraihi, an outspoken critic of Kais Saied.

The same court banned Mraihi from running for election for life accusing him of using money to influence voters, a charge he denied.

Issam Chebbi, a leader of the main opposition National Salvation Front who was arrested in February 2023 for “plotting against the state”, dropped out of the race on Thursday, his party said.

Tunisia’s rights watchdog “I Watch” denounced “complicated procedures” and “a methodical absence of transparency” for elections in the North African country.