By Tarek Amara
TUNIS (Reuters) – Supporters of present Tunisian President Kais Saied started celebrations within the capital on Sunday evening after an exit ballot broadcast on state tv confirmed him profitable, beating two rivals, one among whom is now in jail
Saied on Sunday confronted two election rivals: his former ally turned critic, Chaab Occasion chief Zouhair Maghzaoui, and Ayachi Zammel, who was jailed final month.
Turnout stood at 27.7%, the election fee mentioned after the shut of polls – simply half what it was within the runoff spherical of the 2019 presidential election.
Official outcomes aren’t anticipated till Monday night however an exit ballot by Sigma firm, a polling company, confirmed Saied within the lead with 89.2% of votes, in response to state tv.
In his first remark, Saied informed state tv, “This is a continuation of the revolution. We will build and will cleanse the country of the corrupt, traitors and conspirators.”
Zammel and Maghzaoui’s campaigns rejected the exit ballot outcomes saying the true outcomes can be totally different.
On the primary avenue of Habib Bourguiba within the capital metropolis of Tunis, celebrants raised photos of Saied and the Tunisian flag, chanting “The folks wish to construct and develop”.
“We rejoice for an individual as a result of he served the state and never for his personal profit, he serves for the advantage of the folks and the state”, Mohsen Ibrahim said when he was celebrating.
Tunisia had for years been hailed as the only relative success story of the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings for introducing a competitive, though flawed, democracy following decades of autocratic rule.
However, rights groups now say Saied, in power since 2019, has undone many of those democratic gains while removing institutional and legal checks on his power. Saied, 66, has rejected criticism of his actions, saying he is fighting a corrupt elite and traitors, and that he will not be a dictator.
Senior figures from the biggest parties, which largely oppose Saied, have been imprisoned on various charges over the past year and those parties have not publicly backed any of the three candidates on Sunday’s ballot. Other opponents have been barred from running.
“The scene is shameful. Journalists and opponents in jail, together with one presidential candidate.” said Wael, a bank employee in Tunis, who gave only his first name.
CANDIDATES DISQUALIFIED
Political tensions have risen since an electoral commission named by Saied disqualified three prominent candidates last month, amid protests by opposition and civil society groups.
Lawmakers loyal to Saied then approved a law last week stripping the administrative court of authority over election disputes. This court is widely seen as the country’s last independent judicial body, after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissed dozens of judges in 2022.
While elections in the years soon after the 2011 revolution were fiercely contested and drew very high participation rates, public anger at Tunisia’s poor economic performance and corruption among the elite led to disillusionment.
Saied, elected in 2019, seized most powers in 2021 when he dissolved the elected parliament and rewrote the constitution, a move the opposition described as a coup.
A referendum on the structure handed with turnout of solely 30%, whereas a January 2023 runoff for the brand new, almost powerless, parliament he created with that structure had turnout of solely 11%.
Though tourism revenues are on the rise and there was monetary assist from European nations apprehensive about migration, state funds stay strained. Shortages of subsidised items are frequent, as are outages of energy and water.
