Photo: AFP file
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied was re-elected on Monday with 90.7 percent of the vote, the head of the electoral authority (ISIE) said on national television.
Saied, 66, won Sunday’s election by a landslide, with his challengers Ayachi Zemmal collecting 7.3 percent and Zouhair Maghzaoui winning just 1.9 percent of votes cast, ISIE said.
The turnout was 28.8 percent, the lowest since the country’s 2011 revolution.
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Three years after Saied staged a sweeping power grab, rights groups fear re-election will only further entrench his rule in the country, the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.
With the ouster of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia prided itself on being the birthplace of those regional revolts against authoritarianism.
But the north African country’s path changed dramatically soon after Saied’s election in 2019.
Only 27.7 percent of voters turned out to cast their ballots, it said. Over 58 percent were men, and 65 percent aged between 36 and 60.
“The vote’s legitimacy is undoubtedly tainted with candidates who could have overshadowed (Saied) being systematically sidelined,” said Hatem Nafti, a political commentator and author of a forthcoming book on the current president’s authoritarian rule.
ISIE had barred 14 candidates from joining the race, citing insufficient endorsements, among other technicalities.
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Source link : https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/africa/tunisia-saied-re-elected-president-with-90-7-of-the-vote
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Publish date : 2024-10-06 14:15:00
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