TUNIS: Tunisian opposition parties, presidential candidates and human rights groups have accused the authorities of using “arbitrary restrictions” and intimidation in order to ensure the re-election of President Kais Saied in a vote set for Oct. 6.
Saied announced on July 19 that he would seek another five-year term. Elected in 2019, Saied dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree in a move the opposition described as a coup. He has said he will not hand over power to what he calls “non-patriots.”
As an Aug. 6 deadline for registering as a presidential candidate looms, 11 opposition figures who hope to run against Saied issued a joint statement this week criticizing the authorities.
“The violations have affected most of the serious candidates to the point that they appear to indicate a desire to exclude them (from the election) and restrict them in order to make way for a specific candidate,” they said in the joint statement.
None of the 11 opposition candidates have yet obtained a document certifying that they have no criminal record — a new condition — which will then allow them to register.
The Election Commission spokesperson said the interior ministry would contact the candidates to provide them with the necessary document, without saying when this would happen. The Commission also rejected the accusations of bias.
’Climate of intimidation’
In a separate statement on Thursday, 17 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Human Rights League, and six opposition parties criticized government control of public media, the judiciary, and the Elections Commission.
“A climate of intimidation of opponents and journalists through the use of the judiciary and the Election Commission to serve the interests of the authorities and the lack of equal opportunities does not provide guarantees for free and fair elections,” they said in the statement.
One of the 11 presidential candidates, Nizar Chaari, said his campaign manager and a volunteer member had been arrested and that police had confiscated the signatures he had received from the public endorsing his candidacy.
The Public Prosecutor’s office said the two people had been arrested over their seizure of a database and the forging of endorsements, accusations that Chaari’s campaign deny.
Earlier this month, a court sentenced another candidate, opposition party leader Lotfi Mraihi, to eight months in prison on a charge of vote buying. It also imposed a lifetime ban on Mraihi, one of Saied’s most prominent critics, running in presidential elections.
Also this month, a judge barred candidate Abd Ellatif Mekki from appearing in the media or traveling around the country.
The head of the Freedoms Committee in Parliament, Hela Ben Jaballah, called in a statement for the lifting of restrictions on candidates. She also urged the Election Commission to perform its role in a neutral way, something it says it already does.

Airlines are avoiding Iranian and Lebanese airspace and canceling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as concerns grow over a possible conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah this week.
Singapore Airlines stopped flying through Iranian airspace from early Friday morning and is using alternative routes, saying safety is its top priority, it told Reuters in a statement.
Taiwan’s EVA Air and China Airlines also appeared to be avoiding Iran airspace for flights to Amsterdam on Friday which previously had flown over Iran, Flightradar24 data showed.
The airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the route changes.
In a bulletin, OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information, advised traffic between Asia and Europe to avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace, a day after sources told Reuters that top Iranian officials will meet the representatives of Iran’s regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to discuss potential retaliation against Israel.
Many airlines, including US and European airlines, already avoid flying over Iran, especially since the reciprocal missile and drone attacks in April between Iran and Israel.
Singapore Airlines’ flight to London Heathrow early on Friday went north of Iran through Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, rather than crossing through Iran as it did the day before, Flightradar24 showed.
However, a significant number of airlines on Friday were still flying over Iran, including United Arab Emirates carriers Etihad, Emirates and FlyDubai, as well as Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.
Over the past two days, Air India, Germany’s Lufthansa Group, US carriers United Airlines and Delta Air, and Italy’s ITA Airways said they had suspended flights to Tel Aviv.
Airlines this week have also been canceling and delaying flights to the Lebanese capital Beirut after a strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. Israel has blamed the attack on Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, which denied involvement.
Canada on Thursday issued a notice to Canadian aircraft to avoid Lebanese airspace for one month due to the risk to aviation from military activity.
Britain has for the past month advised pilots of potential risk from anti-aircraft weaponry and military activity in Lebanon’s airspace.
Should an all-out war break out in the Middle East, OpsGroup said civil aviation will likely face the risk of drones and missiles crossing airways, as well as the increased risk of GPS spoofing — a growing phenomena around Lebanon and Israel where militaries and other actors broadcast signals that trick a plane’s GPS system into thinking it is somewhere it is not. (Writing by Lisa Barrington; editing by Miral Fahmy and Ros Russell)