Tunisia: File of sixth presidential candidate validated

On Friday August 30, Tunisia’s Administrative Court announced that it had approved an appeal from Imed Daïmi, a former advisor to President Moncef Marzouki, clearing the way for his reinstatement in the presidential race on October 6. This decision could make Daïmi the sixth candidate in the running. Although the court accepted the appeal on both procedural and substantive grounds, the final confirmation of his candidacy still awaits approval from the electoral authority, ISIE.

Recently, the Administrative Court also upheld appeals from two other candidates: Mondher Zenaïdi, 73, a former Transport Minister under the Ben Ali regime and a notable rival to President Kais Saied, and Abdellatif Mekki, a former leader of the Islamo-conservative Ennahdha movement.

Imed Daïmi, 54, is the vice-president of the Harak party led by former president Moncef Marzouki, a vocal critic of Saied’s policies. Marzouki, who resides abroad, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison in February for allegedly attempting to “provoke disorder” in Tunisia. Daïmi is closely associated with Ennahdha, a party that has been influential in Tunisian politics since the fall of dictator Ben Ali in 2011, and which Saied has criticized sharply.

The Administrative Court, based in Tunis, has reviewed all the appeals filed. The electoral authority is expected to announce the final list of presidential candidates next week, following their evaluation of the court’s decisions.
On August 10, ISIE had initially retained only three candidates, including the incumbent President Saied, 66, who was elected in 2019 and seized full power in 2021. Saied, seeking a second term, has faced accusations of authoritarianism from critics and opposition. The other two candidates initially approved were Zouhair Maghzaoui, 59, a former pan-Arab left-wing MP, and liberal industrialist Ayachi Zammel, 43.