Challenger to Tunisian President Saied arrested
ReutersPolice in Tunisia have arrested one of the two approved challengers to incumbent President Kais Saied in next month’s election, the opposition candidate’s staff have said.
Ayachi Zammel was detained in the early hours of Monday for allegedly falsifying details of those who backed him, Mahdi Abdel Jawad told the Reuters news agency.
His arrest comes as President Saied faces accusations of trying to restrict the number of those allowed to run against him.
Since he won his first term in 2019 the president has suspended parliament and concentrated power in his hands.
Mr Zammel’s detention was described as “absurd” by a member of his campaign team quoted by Reuters.
New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in August that the authorities have excluded eight prospective candidates for the 6 October election through prosecution and imprisonment.
Last week, the country’s highest court said three candidates who had been barred from running by the electoral commission should be reinstated.
Farouk Bouasker, the head of the commission, which is yet to release the final candidate list, said he would look at the court’s ruling before making a decision.
His apparent hesitancy angered campaign groups.
In 2021, after sacking the prime minister and suspending parliament, President Saied pushed through a new constitution cementing his one-man rule.
The new constitution replaced one drafted soon after the Arab Spring in 2011, which saw Tunisia overthrow late dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. It gave the head of state full executive control and supreme command of the army.
Mr Saied has justified his actions by saying he needed new powers to break a cycle of political paralysis and economic decay.
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